Love Me To Death
by Your Lunar Eclipse
Summary: Trapped between her ugly past, love for a womanizing ex-boyfriend and her new life at Hogwarts, Rae Lightsphere's life is in danger of spiralling downwards yet again.  Rated M for possible violence and slight lemon. See full plot inside.
1. Chapter 1  Intro

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for any mistakes in this, I did check it over twice and word says it is fine, but you can never be sure.

Secondly, I'm sorry for the shortness. This story was originally for Quizilla, and I have to do a heck of a lot of editing now (seeing as it was set in second person and I had to change it to third.) I also took out the character description I did for Rae, as well as a slightly 'spoiling' plot, but I think its better this way.

I will also be putting the new form on Quizilla once I have edited the nine chapters I have done so far, which may take a while but seeing as I'm a hard worker as well as a perfectionist, it probably won't take long.

If anyone wants the either the plot or Rae's description, PM me, I'd be happy to send it to you.

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><p>Rae pushed her suitcases down the stairs and watched them crash against each other at the bottom. Her sister appeared out of the living room to see what the racket was before rolling her eyes at her.<p>

"Hurry up! You're going to be late; I thought this was your 'new start to life.'"

Rae groaned and walked down the stairs to get a quick breakfast. "It is and I'm excited, I really am. It's just I'm still really tired. I feel like my feet are made of lead" She grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it in the toaster as her sister leaned against the frame of the door.

"You'll feel better later; it's just pre-nerves getting you down." She smiled at Rae, slightly worried. "Right, have you got everything?" She asked, walking out the room. Rae grabbed the toast as it popped up and followed her.

"Mph" Rae replied, while she took a bite out of the bread and tugged her shoes on. She grabbed her suitcases and gave her sister a quick kiss on the cheek "wish me luck" she joked as she walked out the door. Her sister waved at her, calling a reminder to visit her. Rae waved back and carried her suitcases to the bus stop where she waited for the bus to the train station.

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><p>She reached the platform nine, having got a trolley for her stuff. She struggled to push it against the crowd towards the wall with her small muscles, but finally reached it and ran through it with ease. Her heart beat fluttered and her stomach tied itself into a tight knot, she thought about everything that had happened to far, and everything that could happen in the future. She shook her head, as if to rid her brain of the thoughts before looking at the Hogwarts express.<p>

Right this was it, her 'new start to life.'

She took a deep breath and started the long journey of her seventh year.

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><p>Like it?<p>

Review and message for me please!


	2. Chapter 2 New Beginnings

Because her sister had hurried her out the house so early, the platform was nearly empty. There was one or two eager first years scurrying around and an old lady who stared at you as you walked past, but that was it. She glanced behind her shoulder after she stepped onto the train. Sure enough, the lady was still staring at you and after pausing, she returned to shaking a small tin in her hand.

Pushing her thoughts of the weird beggar lady to the back of her mind, Rae slowly walked down the aisle. Most of the compartments were empty so she chose a random one in the middle to sit in.

The seats were uncomfortable but she liked the feel of them and kept running her fingers over the leather. After the incident, life had seemed like a dream. It still did, just not in the nightmarish way it had before. No, no deep thinking today. It only screwed her over and she didn't want to deal with 'inner feelings' on her first day.

About half an hour later people started gathering outside the window. It was raining heavily by then, so they all hurried to the dry train. Three people appeared outside her compartment, which was blatantly empty seeing as no one knew her. They knocked on the door and a girl with very bushy hair stuck her head in.

"Uh, is there space left in this compartment?"

She looked up from her bags. "Yeah, sure come on in."

The three of them shuffled into the room before sitting down in a row in front of her. This gave her the chance to look at them properly. The girl stuck her hand out for Rae to shake and she quickly glanced at her belongings before taking it. She had a pile of books, which Rae guessed meant that she was studious and clever but from the way she talked, told her that she was outgoing too.

"My name is Hermione Granger." She said while shaking her hand vigorously. The next person jumped in.

"And I'm Ron Weasley."

She was shocked at how different the two were. He had a head full of ginger hair and a goofy smile. His appearance immediately made Rae like him and she took his hand and shook it too. After, she took the hand of the third, who was also a boy.

"I'm Harry Potter." He seemed reluctant to tell her his name and she was a little hurt at first, but quickly realised why as her eyes travelled to his forehead.

"Oh. You're, err, famous aren't you?" He gave her a sheepish smile before touching his scar self-consciously. She gave him a full smile, trying to show him that she didn't mind about it. She also noticed the badges on the front of their robes. It clearly said that all three of them were from Gryffindor. Luckily, Rae had looked up the school customs before travelling. It was always best to be prepared.

"My name is Rae Lightsphere" she told them "I'm new here at Hogwarts." Hermione raised her eyebrows and Ron and Harry looked at each other curiously. Hermione decided to leave the civilities and went straight for the questions.

"So where did you come from? I mean, it's pretty rare from new student in the sixth year." Rae tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a deep breath, hoping that they wouldn't have heard of her school.

"I came from Venefica School for Witches, uh, you probably haven't heard of it..."

Hermione looked annoyed that she actually hadn't heard of it, which was a great relief. Muggle born wizards usually hadn't as the school was full of purebloods, going as far as to call their selves 'exclusive.' Rae hated that, the way they always seemed to think they were better than everyone else. She was a pureblood herself, but never thought that she was above anyone, even if she avoided talking to them, but then again she had used to do that to everyone.

She guessed that Harry was not a Muggle, but probably half and half. Plus, he had been brought up mostly in the human world, therefore, wouldn't of know either. The problem was Ron, even if he was not the type to gossip, but she needn't have worried as he hadn't the slightest clue either by the looks of it. She gave them a genuine smile and they all started a conversation about house groups, and which one Rae might be in.

Another sound came from the doorway, but whoever it was hadn't bothered to knock. At first, she was slightly taken aback as her sight filled with bright, baby blonde hair. Whoever it was seemed to have a permanent smirk on his face and the reaction from her three new friends unnerved her. Harry's face clearly showed his dislike for whomever it was, bordering on hate, definitely not a good sign. Ron looked uncomfortable, but mostly angry. Hermione's expression was also a mix. It was somewhere between fear and uncertainness. He didn't seem to realise Rae was there, probably because his attention was focused fully on the three.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry snapped, not pleased at his presence. Realisation dawned on Rae. He was a Malfoy, and by the looks of it, Draco Malfoy. She had seen him and his father in an article, but had quickly skipped over it after reading the title 'Malfoy Makes a Difference'. It had obviously been an article set out to gloat about them, not something she particularly wanted to read. This sparked an instant dislike for him, too.

"Oh, I just came to visit. I haven't seen you in so long after all..." Hermione snorted and his smirked turned into an angry grimace. "What's so funny mudblood? Why don't you tell us?" Rae wrinkled her nose at the word, slightly surprised. She then looked behind him and realised what he had meant my 'us'. Behind him were two great, big, lumbering boys, certainly on the chubby side. They looked stupid and not worth her time. While she had been surveying the situation, Ron had jumped up. He had lost his patience.

"Don't call her that!" He roared. Harry stood up next to him and Rae had the feeling she was just about to see a great fight.

"I'll call her what I want, poor boy." Wow, he was poking fun at Ron and his family now? Ron seemed to think so. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at the enemy. Hermione's complaints, telling them to stop was heard but ignored, so Rae guessed this had been stirring up for a while. Harry and Draco also pulled out their wands, as did the two nameless sidekicks.

Sparks were thrown almost as much as the dirty looks, and after a moment, Rae decided Draco also wasn't worth her time. She made a mental note not to hang around him and even bothered to give herself a reason. He seemed conceited, arrogant and nasty. Ron's anger had grown to an exploding point and he half shouted some sort of curse, but before he could finish, Draco had shouted his own spell.

"Expelliarmus!" Ron's wand flew out of his hand and was sent hurtling into the far wall of the compartment, as did Ron himself. This didn't shock her for once. Yes, name calling was not often found at Venefica, but that was because the female population thought it was petty and had resorted to threats instead. However, spells and curses were certainly not uncommon, though such a spell as 'expelliarmus' wasn't used much.

It seemed that it was less common at Hogwarts though, seeing the way it sent shrieks hurtling from Hermione's mouth. People had gathered out in the aisle to watch, and suddenly, she didn't like the attention that was being focused of the cabin. It made her feel overwhelmed and claustrophobic. Time to put an end to this.

Rae stood up. The sudden movement made Malfoy jump a little. He really hadn't realised she had been sitting there at all. He shifted his eyes between her and Harry, not sure which was more dangerous. He decided Harry was, and kept his wand fixed on him, even if his eyes were directed on Rae now. She felt offended; he had chosen Harry was more of a threat because she was a girl. It was the wrong choice. She gave him a warning first.

"I think you better put that wand down, Malfoy, before it does some damage." She tried to keep her voice level and her eyes told him that what was happening didn't bother her in the slightest, even though that wasn't true. Friends or no friends, the first thing you learnt when you got to Venefica was not to care.

"I don't know who you are" he started, glaring at her "but you should know me. You should also know that you shouldn't mess with a Malfoy. Don't get involved." The three seemed momentarily shocked that Rae had managed to grab his attention, as well as get a warning and not just another spell, but to Rae, he was just being irritating.

One last chance. "I said put the wand down."

"And I said not to tell me what to do."

With one swift movement, she had brought her wand out in front of her and before he even had the chance to curse her, the words flowed from her lips. "Incendio!" Bright fire bloomed all over Malfoy, sending him running and screaming towards the bathroom. His two followers ran after him. The rest of the train seemed shocked; no one dared to do that to Draco Malfoy.

Rae looked over to Hermione who had helped Ron stand up. The wall he had landed on was partially cracked but she was focusing on the reactions of her fellow travellers. They seemed slightly shocked, but couldn't help smiling when they still heard Draco's yelps from down the hall. Ron smacked her on the back.

"Wow Rae, that was great." He was smiling broadly and she felt relief wash over her. Hermione piped up. "But won't you get into trouble?"

"You can't punish someone who acted in self defence. All I have to say is that I felt threatened by the way he was talking to me and after the way he treated Ron, so I acted on instinct. We have the proof of the wall and the bruises that will appear on Ron's back." Ron cringed at the thought. But Rae thought of it as an everyday occurrence. In a way, it had been, but not anymore. This was a one off. "No sweat."

They looked uncertain but pushed it aside. They all laughed about it for the rest of the way back. For the first time in three months, she felt relaxed.


	3. Chapter 3 Learning the Hard Way

The train arrived at Hogwarts and you all travelled down the path towards the carriages. While Harry, Ron and Hermione chattered outside their carriage, Rae took some time to look at the Thestral at the front. She was slightly spooked at its haunted features, but walked over to it, knowing she had to get used to this sort of thing. Lifting her hand up tentatively, she ran her finger over its bare spine and through it scraggly hair. It snorted but was not aggressive. Harry appeared behind her.

"Strange aren't they?" He half asked, half told her.

"Hmm" she murmured, considering this "they're still beautiful though." He smiled at her before clambering into the carriage. She went in after him and soon they were joined by three others. First there was Neville Longbottom. He stuttered at the sight of her, obviously not expecting someone new there. Well, it could be a mixture of that, the fact that she was a girl, and maybe the fact that she was pretty one. Secondly, there was a girl who introduced herself as Ginny Weasley. The family resemblance between her and Ron was striking and she was a cheerful girl who never stopped smiling, much like her brother, which made her if all the Weasleys were like this. Lastly, there was a girl called Luna Lovegood. Finally, someone who was not a Gryffindor. She was strange and slightly blunt, but surprisingly enjoyable to listen to. Rae decided that she liked Luna the best and spent the rest of her trip discussing the best ways to ward off Nargles while the others gave them worried looks.

The great hall was as amazing as she had suspected. There hadn't been many magical enchantments at Venefica, and the few that they had were for safety reasons, so she loved the floating candles. She stood with the first years but had to wait until all of them had been sorted for her chance to sit on the stool. Professor Dumbledore, a man she had always admired, gave a short speech on how rare it was to have a new student above years one and two. The hat was placed upon her head and mumbled to itself for quite a while. Then it spoke in a loud voice.

"Slytherin!"

Her stomach twisted into a terrible knot as she walked off the stage towards the Slytherin table and she took a place as far away from the glaring Draco Malfoy as possible. After another long speech, the table came alive with food. She chose a chicken leg but only picked at it. Afterwards, she found herself trudging along to the common room when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see the upturned nose of Pansy Parkinson.

She had heard that Pansy was always unfriendly, plus, she was also usually glued to Draco's arm, which sparked an instant, but only slight dislike for her. Apparently, the feeling wasn't mutual. She gave Rae a bright smile, threaded her arm with hers and pulled Rae through the doorway. Rae was shocked into submission for a moment, but her brain began to work again. She realised why Pansy was being friendly, Rae had set Malfoy on fire, so obviously she didn't like him. That meant she wasn't a competitor in Pansy's 'wild quest for true love' as she named it.

Pansy turned to face Rae. "Welcome to Slytherin! I'm Pansy Parkinson, but you probably already knew that." Rae gave her a faint smile, wondering how long Pansy would hang on to her. She pulled her upstairs into the girls bedroom and she showed Rae where she'd be sleeping, where to put her stuff and such. She also gave Rae a load of information about the school, including a map and her timetable. It read:

7:30am – Breakfast

9:00am – First lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Alastor Moody, with Gryffindor

10:00am – Second lesson, Divination, Professor Sybil Trelawney, with Ravenclaw

11:00am – Break

11:30am – Third lesson, Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Rubeus Hagrid, with Gryffindor

12:30pm – Lunch

1:00pm –Break

1:30pm – Fifth lesson, Herbology, Professor Pomona Sprout, with Hufflepuff

2:30pm – Sixth lesson, Potions, Professor Severus Snape, with Gryffindor

3:30pm – Free time

6:00pm – Dinner

12:00pm – Seventh lesson, Astronomy, Professor Aurora Sinistra, mixed (Wednesdays only)

Rae looked it over and tucked it into her pocket, now thankful that Pansy was there. While Pansy talked about how it was so crazy that Rae was doing so many subjects for her N.E., she unpacked her stuff and decorated her part of the room, sticking the rest of her stuff under her bed in the suitcase. She was probably going to skip most of her lessons anyway. She had done the exact same thing in her O. and had still managed to get straight Os in everything. (That's what she got for panicking at midnight and spending the rest of the early hours studying what she'd missed in lessons.)

Rae glanced at the clock, but it was only 1:40 and she had no lessons today. She had a load of time to waste and Pansy's ramblings were starting to get boring. Finally, she stopped talking when a girl who introduced herself as Daphne came in. They launched into a heated discussion about who was the fittest boy at the school, Pansy obviously voting for Draco. Rae took this chance to slip away and sneaked downstairs.

Draco and a group of Slytherin boys stood around the fire, laughing at something he said. As quietly as she could, she walked slowly across the room towards the door. Sure, she didn't want to talk to him but she certainly wasn't scared of him. He would be angry of course, very angry, but that was his problem and he wasn't going to take it out on her now was he? She only set him on fire...

She was wrong. In a split second he saw you and slipped away from the chattering group of boys. She quickened her pace, reaching the door before he did and hurriedly stepping out the portrait hole. His hand suddenly slammed into the wall, his arm inches away from her face. It was threatening to say at the least, plus, he had blocked her way.

Shifting from one foot to the other, she swung round to face him, holding her head high.

"What do you want? I'm busy."

"Don't act high and mighty with me, Lightsphere. Isn't it obvious?"

She raised an eyebrow and wondered how he knew her name already; she had only been there a couple of hours.

"Well, I won't know unless you tell me" she said, deciding that playing innocent was the safest option. Plus, it would be fun to get him angry; she had heard the Slytherin prince never loses his cool.

He growled. "I'm talking about what happened on the train. I want an apology" he paused. "Or at least a good punch at one of your snotty little Gryffindor buddies." He spat on the floor next to her to show his dislike. She shifted on her feet again, calculating then chances that she could escape.

"Malfoy, I'm not going to say sorry, and your empty little threats aren't going to work on me either." If he thought he could threaten her, he was going to learn the hard way. "Remove your arm." He did and she carried on her way, glancing back to see that he was still fuming. She didn't like the dangerous glint that shone in his eyes, but ignored it, figuring that it was normal for someone like him.


	4. Chapter 4 Cloud Watching

_Just another girl in the library. That's how it was supposed to be. She wanted to blend with the shadows, become someone who was not 'important'. No, she was not a coward; she refused to believe that. She was different from them. She never turned her head away, it's just that no one realised that she was watching; and all because she was one with the night, one with the walls, one with the air, one with nothing. In a way, it was only a matter of time before she got dragged in. No one can disappear forever._

Rae was forced from her thoughts when a voice came from behind her and she realised she had been spacing out in the corridor. Hermione and Luna had walked up behind her, all smiles. A small weight lifted from her shoulders, she had thought that now she was in Slytherin they wouldn't want to talk to her anymore. Apparently she was wrong. The three of them exchanged greetings and then walked down the rest of the corridor together.

"So, where are you going?" Rae asked them.

"We were going to the lake, just to sit and soak up the sun" Hermione chattered, seemingly very happy to be back at school, Rae smiled at that. "Why waste this beautiful weather? It won't last long."

Luna agreed and Rae spent the rest of the journey listening to them argue over whether Moon Frogs existed or not. The whole thing gave her a funny fluttery feeling in her stomach which she couldn't quite define or find a reason for.

The three of them cloud watched while lying on the grass by the lake for what seemed like hours. Hermione told Rae about how there was a giant squid in the lake, even though no one had ever seen it. She told them that at your old school there was a similar rumour, about how there was a cave underneath the sea shore the school was near and how everyone said it was full of vampire squid. They both looked surprised that her old school was near the sea and asked her whether she was allowed to go down there. Rae explained that they weren't exactly allowed to go down there, but everyone did anyway.

Luna pointed to a cloud. "Look! It's a Heliopath." Rae looked towards where she was pointing, but only saw a round misshaped cloud that didn't really look like anything. Hermione rolled her eyes before pointing to another one. "That one looks like the sorting hat." Rae followed her finger to a triangle shaped cloud before nodding. Just then, shadows flew over all your faces and you all looked downwards towards your feet to see Harry and Ron.

"Hey Rae" Ron said, settling down next to Hermione. "How's life in Slytherin?"

She considered her answer for a moment before replying. "Irritating." He laughed as Harry settled on Luna's side. "They're all a bit...I don't know how to describe it. 'Misled' maybe?" She continued and Ron snorted but didn't say anything. She had a feeling that all of them were having the same thought. Misled by what? Money? Power? She started to feel bad in the sudden silence so you sat up straight and stretched your arms.

"I said something strange, didn't I?" She asked, staring out at the lake. The sun reflected off the surface, momentarily blinding her. She was glad, she didn't have to look at their faces; she didn't have to see how they felt. Movement behind her made her glance round; Luna sat up behind her, turning her head to look Rae in the eye.

"I don't think it strange" she started in that airy far away voice of hers "you're the kind of person who tells the truth, aren't you?" Rae was having a hard time deciding whether it was a statement or a question. The tense atmosphere that hung behind her said this was the point where they decided whether she was a true Slytherin or not.

"Yeah..." Rae slowly said "a while ago I promised myself that I wouldn't tell any lies like that, I mean, just to make things easier for myself. I promised myself a new beginning here." Silence met her, but the tension behind her disappeared. More weight lifted off her shoulders, and she decided that she had made the right decision, or said the right thing. She knew that they didn't really understand her yet, they would have to wait a while for that, but the trust they were giving her was truly touching.

The rest of the day sped by easily. The five of them cloud watched till the sky grew dark and they went inside to stand in one of the many corridors until dinner. There was no sign of Draco Malfoy, in fact, every thought of the earlier incident had fled her mind completely. It was nice to be worry free, even if it was only for a moment, and she didn't want to worry any of her friends either.

Rae sat at the Gryffindor table for dinner. Nobody on that table seemed to mind, which only made her like the house even more. Slytherin was a different matter. She got a couple of glares, but seeing as she was new they didn't really care. Malfoy wasn't there and she had the horrible feeling that he was up to no good.

She grimaced at the knowledge that she had a whole day of lessons tomorrow. That meant no cloud watching or easy conversations. The fact that she had all her lessons with a bunch of Slytherins just made it worse. Knowing her luck, Malfoy would be there, too.

She was surprised at how late it was when she wondered back to the common room. She entered through the painting to find everyone else had gone to bed. Upstairs, Pansy and her friends greeted her while sitting on their beds in their PJs. Rae stripped and then dressed in her own before climbing into bed.

The lights went out at 10:00, which was about the same time as the chatter stopped. Rae stayed awake past everyone else, checking her bedside clock to see that it was two in the morning. The rhythmic breaths of the others should have sent her to sleep, but her thoughts kept her awake.

"No one can disappear forever" she whispered to herself, careful not to wake the others. The thought went round and round inside of her head as she stared at the swirly pattern on the ceiling. Her eyelids grew heavy and she slipped into a restless sleep.

_"Rae Lightsphere?" She looked up from her book, _Life of Pi_, to see a group of girls standing over her. The first thought that came to her was the fact that this was very strange. All she was doing was sitting in the corner of the school library on one of those lumpy bean bags. For god's sake, most people in this damn school didn't even know she existed. So why were they talking to _her_? She certainly didn't know them._

_"Yes, that's me" she replied, mildly annoyed that they had disturbed her. At that very moment, her eyes were drawn to the shiny badge that was stuck on each of their chests, and her blood ran cold._

_"The council wants a meeting with you."_


	5. Chapter 5 Pansy's Breakdown

A few days had passed without incident. Rae had gone to all of her lessons and she was having a great time with her friends. She was also still sitting on the Gryffindor table, not that anyone noticed anymore. The thing that unnerved her the most was the absence of Draco, who she hadn't seen after what happened in the corridor. He wasn't in lessons, he wasn't in the dinner hall, and she didn't even see him in the Slytherin common room. She hoped he caged himself up somewhere and was withering in self loathing. After hearing about some of the things he did from Harry and of how he was mean all the time, she had begun to hate him herself.

She glanced down at her time table, which said she had Defence Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor. That meant she got to sit with Hermione, which had its benefits (as well as its drawbacks.) She slid into the seat next to her and she smiled at Rae before launching into a conversation with her about she hated these lessons, which always focus on practicals instead of actual work. Mad Eye Moody took that moment to come in, banging his walking stick on the ground for quiet.

"Now everyone" he called after the chatter had died "I know we have already covered this a while ago, but as you remember, a small accident occurred last time we practised defence against Bogarts." The students exploded into a mass of chattering and murmuring, which instantly perked Rae's interest. She looked back at Hermione, who just seemed weary and then at Harry, who seemed like he could throw up at any moment.

"But first" he shouted, banging his walking stick several times again "we will study them and how to fight against them."

A small "Yes!" sounded from Hermione and Rae struggled not to laugh.

"For now we will continue our study of wolf packs. Turn to page 106 in your text books..."

After class, Rae asked Hermione what Bogarts were on the way to her Divination class.

"What? You never used them at your old school?" Rae shook her head. "They're a type of Magical creature, one without a form, well; no one has actually ever seen its real form." Rae raised her eyebrows quizzically.

"Sounds interesting" she told Hermione. "Why?"

"Actually," she started, sounding as if she was about to start another lecture "you see, they change shape depending on whoever's looking at them, to the shape of that persons biggest fear." That sounded like one cool defence mechanism. "I'll tell you more at lunch, okay?" Rae nodded waving at her as she headed off to her own lesson and she turned up the curving stairway to her classroom. She saw Luna, staring at the ceiling with her eyebrows nearly disappearing into her hair. She sat down next to her.

"What's up Luna?" Rae asked, looking upwards as well.

"I thought I heard some sort of invisible Pixie"

"Oh, seen any?"

"No." They both sighed in unison, looking downwards again. A round crystal ball was in the centre of the table.

"Cool" Rae said, picking it up and weighing it in her hands "we never used to do this stuff at my old school."

"They didn't do a lot there, did they? I met Harry on the way here and he told me that you didn't know what Bogarts were."

Rae's eyebrows knitted together as she kept your eyes on the ball, she liked the way the light from the window shone through it, making it sparkle. "Nah, Venefica was always in to 'creativity' and 'letting the children learn through experience.'"

"And did you?"

She looked Luna in the eye "yeah, of course I did. Otherwise I wouldn't of got the grades I have, would I?"

Rae spent a short amount of her break talking to Luna in the corridor before heading off to Care of Magical Creatures, careful to take her time. She was dawdling down a corridor when she saw Draco coming the other way. He appeared so suddenly from nowhere that she had to stop for a second out of shock. He looked up and met her eyes before giving her a dirty look. She turned her nose up into the air and they both walked past each other as if nothing had happened at all.

"Lightsphere!" He called and she stopped and turned out of pure curiosity. He stood there smirking, but not actually saying anything. She grew impatient.

"What!"

"Haven't you heard of the saying 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer?" Rae stiffened and a memory stirred at the back of your mind. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did on the train, one way or another."

She frowned. "More empty threats? I expected better from you, Malfoy." He just smirked before turning and walking off in the opposite direction. Rolling her eyes, Rae continued her way, too.

Third lesson passed and she found herself sitting at the lunch table.

"Where's Hermione?" She asked Ron.

"She forgot some books in her classroom and went back to get them. God knows what's taking her so long; she's going to miss all the food."

Rae frowned. Hermione forgetting books? Highly unlikely, she thought, but she guessed even people like Hermione slipped up now and then. "She was supposed to tell me about Bogarts." Harry choked on his sandwich.

"Please" he said "not at the dinner table."

Ron's face split into a large grin. "Oh yeah, we didn't tell you what happened last time with the Bogarts, did we? Well, we all queued up and then it was Harry's turn. For him, it turned into a Dementor and he fainted completely. He had to go to the medical room for ages. That was before he learnt Patronus Charm, but the Slytherins never let him live it down." Well, that explained the sneers and laughs at the back of the class where the Slytherins had been. Rae laughed anyway.

Hermione came huffing in, sitting down next to her.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, just a little irritated." Rae looked at her for a moment, then going back to fiddling but not actually eating her food, as she always did.

The rest of the day went smoothly, until she saw that it was Wednesday, meaning she had Astronomy last. She sighed, rolling up the list and stuffing it into her pocket before heading off to the Slytherin common rooms. Pansy was already in the girl dorms so Rae chatted with her while getting her Astronomy books and equipment ready. The conversation went as usual.

"Ugh, Draco is so hot!" She started, twining her hair round her finger. Great, Rae thought, I have to listen to this again. "He took me to the ball you know?" Rae's ears perked up.

"He did?"

"Yeah, it was the best day of my life."

Rae frowned. "Then why is he so mean to you now? He must have wanted to take you to the ball..." Pansy's face fell and her eyes began to tear up. For once, Rae cursed her bluntness. "Pansy! Why are you crying?" She said, hurrying over to her and flapping like a mother hen, not really sure how to comfort her. She awkwardly put your arms around Pansy and she grabbed Rae like some sort of life line.

"I really liked him!" She wailed, snot dripping down from her nose. Rae grabbed a tissue out of her pocket and tried to clear up the mess that was Pansy's face.

"I know, we all know." Rae cooed.

"And I slept with him..." Rae froze. Great, he really was an ass. She had thought Pansy was just a spoilt girl, whining over some guy because she couldn't get him, but now she just felt sympathy for the girl. Wiping the last of the snot from Pansy's nose, she stroked her hair and talked to her in her calmest voice.

"Pansy, listen to me now because this is very important." Rae pulled away and looked her in the eye. "There are people out in the world that will hurt others for their own enjoyment. You know that now, right?" Pansy nodded, head buried in her chest. "You see, in our world, there are lots and lots of these people, there is always going to be one of them in your life, but you mustn't let them get you down. You have to forgive them and move on, otherwise you will trap yourself."

"I have forgiven him." Rae shook her head.

"If you had forgiven him, you wouldn't think that you have a right to be with him. I know that's what you believe." A sob erupted from Pansy again so Rae cooed and calmed a bit before continuing. "Move on Pansy, there's nothing left for you with him." Slowly but surely, Pansy nodded in agreement.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Rae disentangled herself from Pansy, gathering her things and she quietly left the room.

That night, she dreamt again.

"_Give it up!" Her sister shouted at her "you can't keep living like this!" She grabbed the mound of covers that were strewn over Rae and pulled roughly, dragging them off her and the bed. Rae moaned, curling up into the fetal position. Her sister yanked open the curtains, letting light shine through for the first time in three weeks. Rae sat up, not liking the brightness, but caught her reflection in the mirror. A sad, small, dishevelled girl looked back at her. She didn't even look like Rae, so why was she there?_

"_Move on Rae." The girl in the mirror said. "There's nothing left for you here."_


	6. Chapter 6 The Council

Authors note:

Huzzah! Here is a whole 'flashback' chapter explaining some of the background on Venefica and Rae as well as introducing some important past characters.

_Maria Woodwill was Rae's best friend in Venefica, and probably the only person who kept her going. She was also one of the very few people Rae actually talked to, being such an introverted person. From her, Rae learnt to become friends with more people, which meant without her, Rae wouldn't have had the guts to get the friends she has in Hogwarts now._

"_The council wants a meeting with you"_

_Immediately, her stomach churned and she had the horrible feeling of falling. The alarmed looks from the few people left in the library (most of them left when the council members entered) followed her as she was pushed forward and out of the library doors. Rae went into trance mode, hardly noticing the girls that pushed themselves up against the walls in fear as they walked past, she only noticed the hard grip of hands on her shoulders and the overall feeling of doom._

_Venefica had the idea of letting their students run wild and learning from experience. This meant no rules and no punishments. You might think the school would just be overrun with havoc all year round but, in fact, most students attended theirs classes, abided the curfews and acted as if they were in a normal school. Strange? Yeah, just a little._

_This was all because the school was ruled by a large group of girls, the council, if you hadn't guessed. They were the only ones allowed to misbehave and they were ruthless in enforcing their rules on normal students. You're probably thinking why the normal students didn't just overpower the council, right? That's because the council was full of only the most powerful, rich, beautiful and clever students in the school. Plus, their numbers were equal to about a fourth of the school numbers. They were also the only ones that dared use the three unforgivable curses. The other students didn't stand a chance. Even the teachers didn't stand up to them._

_Rae frantically tried to think of a reason of why she was being dragged to the council room in the first place. Had it been found out that she had been internally defying them? Of course not, it's not like they could read her mind, and even if they could they wouldn't do anything about it unless she took action, which she hadn't._

_When she came back to her senses, she found herself in front of the council room doors. A tall, willowy girl pushed past her to knock on the door and she slipped through. Muffled whispers came from inside before a clear "enter" sounded and Rae was yet again being pushed. The room was dark, but candles lit up the large room, high-lighting the slim figures of many of the council members. Why had so many gathered? Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she was pushed down on her knees in front of a high chair at the very end of the room. The council leader sat there, looking very regal._

_Her name was Lene, an ironic name for her, meaning gentle and light. Defiance crept into Rae's heart as she thought of other meanings, trivial, capricious and fickle, but those words also created fear. Lene was popular amongst boys, as far as she had heard, and was the most feared girl in Venefica. There were also several rumours about her. Some said she'd forced out at least nine girls from the school, and had used the killing curse on two more. There was a long pause of silence where Rae tried to quiet her breath and heart, but not succeeding._

"_Do you know why you are here today, Rae Lightsphere?" Lene's voice erupted from the silence, echoing around the near empty room. She sounded all-powerful. Rae though fast._

_Bowing her head she replied "I do not, mademoiselle." The words tasted foul on her tongue, but Lene seemed please at her respect._

"_You are a pure blood, am I right?"_

"_Yes, mademoiselle."_

"_And you have top grades, am I not correct?"_

"_You are correct."_

"_Do you think of yourself as a powerful which, Rae?"_

_Rae paused. "I do not wish to seem bigheaded, mademoiselle, but I practise constantly and would like to think of myself as a powerful witch or, at least, I would like to become one."_

_A slow smile spread across Lene's lips and, yet again, she seemed pleased. "This school has a hierarchy; normal students are below council members. We make their decisions for them because, otherwise, peace would not be kept in this school." Rae nodded to let her know she was following. "But you may not know that the council has a hierarchy within itself." The look of surprise on Rae's face proved Lene right. She had always thought that the council members were equal to each other, like a sisterhood._

_Lene continued. "I think this will explain." Someone passed her a sheet of paper which she then held out to Rae. On it, in an elegant font, was a list of stages in the council and the requirements:_

_Head of Council-Gold badge. Elected by all council members apart from blue badges. Makes all final decisions and is the leader of the rest of the council. No. allowed-1_

_Right hand council member-Silver badge. Elected by Head of Council. Needs seven months of service unless Head of Council gives permission. Helps Head of Council in decisions. No. allowed-5_

_Senior member-Bronze badge. Elected by Silver badges. Needs five months of service unless Head of council gives permission. No. allowed-10_

_Upper junior member-White badge. Elected by Silver badges. Needs four month of service unless Head of Council gives permission. No. allowed-20_

_Minor junior member-Grey badge. Elected by Silver badges. Needs three months of service unless Head of Council gives permission. No. allowed-30_

_Council member-Green badge. Elected by all members. No. allowed-limitless_

_Corrupt member-Blue badge. Elected by any member with given reason. Are not allowed to help make decisions or enter council room until forgiven. No. allowed-limitless_

_Rae scanned the page, a lump forming in your throat at the last description. "...If you don't mind me asking, Mademoiselle, but why are you giving me this?"_

_Lene dug around in her robe pocket and brought out a shiny green object. Rae shuffled closer to take a better look, and frowned in confusion. Lene lifted herself out of her chair, bending over Rae and clipping the object on the right side of her uniform. Dazed, Rae looked down at the words 'council member' that was embossed on the green surface. "Welcome to the council, Rae Lightsphere."_


	7. Chapter 7 Getting a Clue

The next day Rae told her friends what had happened with Pansy. Harry choked on his drink, making a horrible gagging noise as he did it, Ron had to spit out his food and Hermione just sat there in shock, gazing at Rae with wide eyes.

"They did what!" Ron managed to cough out while mopping up his drink from the table and Hermione's face turned from shock to horror.

"Yeah, she seemed very upset about it yesterday" Rae said, mumbling into her cup. She didn't think they would have such a large reaction. Thinking about it now, she shouldn't really have told them. "Guys, you can't tell anybody! This is confidential information! Seriously, you know what would happen." They all nodded sombrely, knowing what would happen to Pansy if this got out. They may dislike her, but they wouldn't do such a mean thing. They guessed most of the Slytherins already knew anyway, but other houses didn't.

"But, wow, really. I didn't think Draco would sink to such a low standard." Ron said. Hermione thumped him really hard and he spent the next two minutes holding his arm while bending over in pain.

"Well, this just proves my theory of how much of an ass he is." Hermione said, looking slightly unruffled.

"Theory? What do you mean by theory? The whole school knows Draco Malfoy is an ass. It's a proven fact." Harry growled, shoving some toast into his mouth.

Hermione sniffed before talking. "As much as I hate to admit it, I hope Pansy's alright. That's a horrible thing to do to someone. No wonder she was so clingy, not that it's much of an excuse. What did you tell her?"

"I just had a little talk with her, set her on the right path, and then got out of there as fast as I could. It seemed like too much of an information overload, and too much of a gross picture." Rae answered while they all screwed up their faces.

"Great, now I won't be able to sleep tonight." Ron mumbled, this time too quietly for Hermione to hear.

They all sat there for a little while, chatting more than actually eating. Mentally, Rae checked over what she had today. DADA was first, thank god, at least that would be semi-interesting. And Hermione had cheered up, she thought, realising it for the first time.

The day went pretty smoothly apart from the fact that Rae spilt soil all down her uniform in Herbology. She was also beginning to regret taking so many classes. She spent her free time in the Gryffindor common room eating Bertie Bot's Every Flavoured Beans. Hermione had gone quiet again and Rae was beginning to think that there was something seriously wrong. She decided to talk it over with Luna, who was her best friend now.

Luckily, she caught her as she was walking back to the Slytherin common room as she came out the library. "Luna!" Rae called, running over to her. "I wanted to ask for your opinion on something."

"Oh?"

"Um, have you realised Hermione hasn't been acting like her normal self these days?"

"You mean the absence of smiles and chatter?"

...yeah, good, it's nice know that it's not just me thinking something was up. Boys don't usually realise this kind of thing, and I know for certain that Harry and Ron don't have a clue about what's going on, or at least, they haven't shown any."

Luna paused, seeming to be deep in thought. "Actually" she started, looking slightly worried "there have been fazes like this before you came, but they were all very far apart and very quick." Her eyebrows knitted together. "Now it happens regularly and it lasts for longer. If the reason behind it is some kind of incident then it must be happening more and more frequently."

Just at that moment, Neville came out from the library, nearly knocking Rae out with the door. Flustered, he made sure she was all right before apologising. She liked Neville. It was rare to find such a pure and kind boy these days.

"Oh, Rae, could you do me a favour?"

She blinked "of course."

"Would you make sure Hermione is alright?"

Rae and Luna looked at each other. "Why would we need to do that?" She asked, her eyebrows now knotting in concern. Neville looked sheepish.

"Well, I'm not one of the main members of your friend group, which is probably why I'm the only one who keeps seeing it..."

Luna sighed. "Neville, I've had this conversation with you before. You are just as good as a friend with everyone as I am."

"And me." Rae added in support. He flushed.

"Well, it's been happening for a while now, in a lot of different places. I keep seeing her with..." he swallowed, as if what he had to say next caused him fear. That immediately gave her a clue to who it was.

"With who, Neville?" Luna pushed, anxiety now showing on her face.

"With Draco Malfoy."

Damn, and Rae was hoping it would be anyone but him...


	8. Chapter 8 An Ambush!

"What are we going to do?" Neville asked, clearly not used to this kind of situation. After the revelation with Neville, they had all gone to sit in the library to try and think of what to do about Hermione and Draco. Neville, realising he had said something he shouldn't have, panicked, worried that Rae and Luna might tell Draco. Rae had dragged him with her to calm him and tell him that she and Luna would never do such a thing.

"First, we have to figure out what they were doing." Luna said, also not used to the situation. Rae leaned backwards on her chair, fiddling with a pencil she had found on the table.

"How do we do that? We might not have the time. If Draco is doing something nasty to her, how do we know it won't get worse, I mean, dangerously worse while we try to figure out what's happening." Rae said to herself more than anyone else.

Neville started to panic again. "What do you mean dangerously worse!"

"Neville! We're in a library!" Luna chimed in, sounding slightly shrill.

Rae took a quick glance around the room. Their voices were echoing and it was beginning to attract attention. To make it worse, her eyes skimmed over Crabbe, who was sitting on the other side of the room to them. She frowned, why the hell was Crabbe in the library? She quickly quietened them down with a muffled 'shush'. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and she had a bad feeling in her chest.

"Act normal. We're going to leave the library and begin to walk down the corridor going south a little left of the library entrance. Don't rush, but look around for Hermione or Draco coming along. Tell me if you see them." They both gave her weird looks so she beckoned them closer. "Crabbe is in here, Crabbe the stupid and the clumsy, the not-bothered-about-anything-learning-related Crabbe. In here, Hermione's favourite place!" Neville swallowed, not liking the tension, but they both caught on to what she was getting at.

"Y-you think they're waiting for her?" Luna asked.

"An ambush!" Neville practically shouted "gosh, this is even scarier than the last time I got involved with those three." Rae gave him another shush, deciding not to ask questions about the 'last time'. At least, not at this point in time. She got up, walked over to a bookcase and ran her fingers over the spines of a row, slowly making her way to the right. Sure enough, Goyle was sitting a little further away, obscured slightly by a bookcase. She grabbed a book and looked at the spine. It read 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' damn, you'd wandered into the restricted area, oh well, they were allowed in freely when they got to their sixth year.

Rae walked over to the desk and took the book out, taking a look for Draco, before signalling to Luna and Neville to follow. Neville looked slightly more wooden than usual but they both did great. She made a mental note to thank them later for being so willing. They were all walking in silence towards the north corridor when along the west corridor, straight towards them, came Hermione, nosed stuffed into a book.

Immediately, Luna swivelled round as if there was a door behind her to get her out the way. On Rae's other side, Neville started to run. She grabbed Neville by his shirt collar, pulling him backwards but making him smack into her. He fell on the floor while Rae went staggering backwards into Luna, who tried to catch her but failed miserably. Rae smacked her head against the wall as Luna fell on top of her and there was a horrible pause where all three of them froze like statues on the floor. She could feel Luna's heart beating into her ribcage as Hermione walked passed, not even noticing her three friends floundering like idiots. She disappeared through the library doors and the three of them sat, shocked. Rae let out a snort as the three of them burst into laughter. It was typical of Hermione to be so involved a book that she drowned out everything around her. Rae was surprised she hadn't smacked into a wall yet.

Heaving themselves up, they continued round the corner where they brushed themselves off. A head of platinum blonde hair walked passed, also not noticing them as he slipped through the library doors. Rae crouched down low, rubbing her head but feeling satisfied that she was right.

Luna calmed herself. "What do we do now?"

"We wait for them to come out while trying to seem 'nonchalant.'"

The three of them couched there, getting more nervous and impatient by the minute. After what seemed like hours passed, Hermione shuffled out, turning left quickly. Draco and his sidekicks came out after a couple of seconds, also turning left and following Hermione down the corridor. Rae let out a low growl as she chewed the nail on her thumb.

"I'll follow them" Luna said, looking very determined "we can't let you go. Draco's too aware of your presence here, seeing as you set him on fire." Rae cursed under her breath.

"If that's the case, I'll go." Neville suddenly spoke up. They both turned to look at him.

"No Neville, we don't want you to get even more involved. It might be dangerous." Rae told him.

"That just makes more of reason for me to go. They won't suspect good-old, ditsy, coward Neville." Both Rae and Luna tried to dissuade him, but he seemed set on it. She gave him a faint smile, knowing that they were running out of time when he stood up and walked down the corridor. All Rae and Luna could do now is to wait.


	9. Chapter 9 Confrontation

More time slipped by, seeming increasingly painful. Neville had shown no sign of reappearing since he left and Luna was becoming agitated. Rae put a hand on her shoulder. "Luna, I think you should go to bed, curfew's coming and you don't look so good..."

She tried to wave her off "I'm fine!"

Rae shook her head and gave her a stern look. "I'll search for Neville, you go. It might be a long time until he comes back."

She gave Rae a resigned sigh before standing up and heading towards the Ravenclaw common room, sending worried glances over her shoulder at her. Rae watched her turn the corner before leaving herself, walking in the same direction as Neville, Hermione and Draco with his gang. Curfew was catching up with the school and it was freakishly silent. The only movement was the shifting of the pictures that she kept seeing in the corner of her eye. Where on earth could they be?

After a while of walking and watching the sky turn dark outside the windows she finally heard a faint noise. Following it, she came upon the door to the abandoned girls toilets. She should have guessed really, there wasn't many places where bullying could actually happen without anyone realising. She pressed her ear up against the wooden surface, but could only hear muffled voices. Carefully and slowly, she turned the handle and gently pushed, opening it a tiny crack. Dim light streamed in a line across the floor of the dark corridor and she moved slightly to get a better look, peering through the gap. Suddenly, she had the memory of doing the exact same thing in your house when she was a child, spying on her parents who were have one of their arguments. She would have laughed at the thought, if she hadn't been doing what she was doing and supposed that she'll never change.

Concentrating, she heard Hermione's voice, even though she couldn't see her. She could see Neville, who had been cornered by Crabbe and Goyle. Rae guessed he had been caught. The absence of Malfoy made her stomach turn as she realised he must be in the same area as Hermione.

"W-why are you doing this?" Hermione's voice echoed, frail and frightened.

"Don't you talk to me; Mudbloods should be seen, not heard!" Draco snapped at her.

Anger grew in Rae, making a burning sensation in her chest.

"Anyway, it's your fault in the first place! You and your little friends are always getting in my way, it's really annoying! Setting me on fire was the limit, this is how you pay."

Neville interrupted. "You're a coward Malfoy." He said, looking very red in the face "you're only doing this because you're too scared to stand up to people! The fact you got set on fire means nothing. Also, you've been doing this for a long time, haven't you, picking on Hermione at every chance you got! No, picking on everyone, that is!"

"Shut him up!" Draco roared. Crabbe raised one chunky fist and slammed it into Neville's face. Rae stood there for a moment, shocked. She could hear Hermione's shouts of concern in the back of her mind, but was too preoccupied with the heavy feeling of guilt on her shoulders. This was her fault, she shouldn't have involved him. It was also her fault that it had gotten worse, if only she hadn't gotten in the way and set him on fire; no one would have gotten hurt.

From underneath the guilt, something dangerous stirred. A black anger, maybe deep red, made its way to her chest. It was something she hadn't felt in a long, long time. With it, came old memories which fed its fire. Slowly and surely, Rae opened the door, letting it click when it closed. Five heads whipped round to meet her, which gave her a peculiar feeling of being cornered. Hermione was pressed up against a closed cubicle door, looking pale and tired. An ugly purple bruise was starting to bloom on Neville's face and Draco looked ready to burst.

"You!" He seethed, stepping away from Hermione and pushing Rae against the wall of the bathroom.

"...Yes, me." Rae said, giving a sweet smile and deliberately trying to make him angrier. She wanted to see this fucker go down, and she wanted to be the one to do it.

"Don't mess me around, Lightsphere, I'm in a bad mood." He gripped the top of her uniform in a threatening way, making it hard to breath. She gave him a pitying look, which he returned by pulling her forwards and pushing her backwards, making her smack into the wall. The bang on her head earlier was starting to hurt.

"Whoa there, slow down, why are you getting angry at me?" Rae asked, shrugging her shoulders. Draco growled into her face and she turned her head upwards to get away. "And can I remind you what happened the last time you threatened me? It wasn't pretty."

"You're lucky I didn't rat on you. You're lucky there weren't any burns either."

"Shame, really. I think you would have looked a lot better with some scars."

Draco roared again. He pulled her forwards again, but instead of throwing her back against the wall like she thought he would, he swung her off her feet and sent her sliding across the bathroom floor. Neville was now above you.

"What are you playing at! You're just provoking him!" he half whispered, half snapped. Rae waved him off, pulling herself to her feet.

"Hurting a girl isn't good Malfoy. Did your daddy not teach you that?" She asked, slowly walking away from Neville. She had her back a cubicle now.

Draco brought his wand out and Rae made a grab for hers. He shot a wordless spell at her, creating blue lightning that sped towards her. She ducked out the way as it destroyed the cubicle behind her.

He shot another and another, hardly giving her a gap to escape, and she knew he was serious now. She must have annoyed him a little too much. Cubicle after cubicle was getting destroyed, along with a couple of sinks. Water burst from pipes, spraying everyone in the room. Rae was beginning to lose breath, but found one small opening in Malfoy's defence.

"Expelliarmus!" She called, watching Draco's wand fly out his hand. "Everte Statum!" The spell shot towards Crabbe and Goyle, sending them backwards and off Neville, who made a break for it over to Hermione. She cast one more spell. "Immobulus!" The sidekicks froze where they were and Rae nodded to Neville, who took Hermione out the bathroom and they fled towards the Gryffindor common room.

Rae and Draco stood at a standoff, neither of them moving. She sighed, wanting to make light of what just happened, but the look on Draco's face told her that it was never going to happen.

"Don't ever, ever hurt or involve my friends in your petty games, not anymore." Rae told him.

"You still think you can tell me what to do? You underestimated me."

"Yeah, I did." A look of shock came over his face "but you underestimated me as well."

"You totally just skipped over my point there, didn't you? What makes you think you can do whatever the hell you want? What make you think you can tell me what to do! I've ruled over this school long before you came, what can a silly little new girl do against me?"

A smile flickered on her lips as she thought about someone else who said the exact same sentence to her. "Just because I'm new doesn't mean I'm less than you."

He blatantly ignored her. "Where the heck did you come from anyway? Isn't a bit strange for someone to be moving here in the sixth year? What was the name, Vene-something...?"

She blatantly ignored him back. "Look, I don't bother you, you don't bother me. Everything's cool. I won't stop you in your silly little game with Harry, I know both of you enjoy pissing each other off, but take it this far again and I'll have to step in, and next time I'll be more serious about it."

"How will I know you won't stab me in the back?" He asked, seeming wiser than he looked.

"I won't tell Harry and Ron about what happened today, and I'll get Hermione and Neville to shut up as well."

Draco snorted, but didn't say anything.

"You got yourself a peace treaty, Malfoy." Rae told him before quickly exiting the room. She ran her fingers through her hair, glad to get out that room before walking through the dark corridors, finding it hard to navigate. She found Hermione and Neville down one of the corridors. Hermione flew into her, wrapping her arms around Rae.

"Thank god! You're alright aren't you?"

"Yeah, we talked it out and came up with an agreement."

Hermione and Neville looked at each other. "You talked it out?" Neville asked, looking worried.

"That's not the important part! Listen, no one, from here on, can ever talk about what happened today. We don't tell anyone, not the teachers and not Harry and Ron." She told them, looking pointedly at Hermione. "We forget everything. I'll do a healing spell on Neville; it'll clear most of it up." She did so and then bid Neville and Hermione a good night's sleep.

She made her way over to the Ravenclaw common room, lucky to find a very late student about to go through. She asked them to call Luna down. When she did, she told her the same thing she told Hermione and Neville.

"Are you alright though?" Luna asked

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rae paused. "I just need a hug."

Luna smiled and wrapped her arms around her before giving a surprised yelp. "Rae, your head's bleeding!" Sure enough, when Rae reached round the back of her head it felt damp and she brought her hand back to see the sticky, red liquid. She swore, wiping the blood down the front of her uniform. "And you've got scratches all over your face, legs and arms."

"It's fine! I'll clear it up back in the Slytherin common room."

Luna frowned at her before giving her a very tight hug and saying goodnight. When Rae got back to the Slytherin common room, she went straight to the bathroom, thankful that the girls were asleep, before casting a couple of healing spells and bandaging herself up. After, she lay down in bed, for once finding it very easy to sleep, but not quite managing a dreamless one.


	10. Chapter 10 First Favours

_Rae flicked the green badge between her fingers._

"_I do hope that you will be able to attend our next Council meeting, tomorrow." Lene had said from her throne. Rae had nodded numbly in response, but had taken the badge off her uniform as soon as she couldn't see anymore Council members. She shook your head; this was stupid, they'd be angry if they found her without the badge on her chest. Carefully, she clipped the badge back onto her uniform. A loud shout behind her made her turn around._

"_Rae!" Someone with mousy brown hair and brown eyes ran up to her, throwing her arms round her. She hugged her back, laughing._

"_Maria! You would not believe the day I had!" They both stood back to talk and Maria's eyes swept downwards to the badge on Rae's chest._

"_Oh my God! Please tell me that isn't what I think it is!" She asked, eyes widening in horror._

"_I'm sorry Maria, but I couldn't just turn them down. You know what happens..."_

_Understanding passed through her eyes. She sighed, pulling Rae roughly into a hug. "Don't worry Rae, you'll get through this."_

_Rae's eyes watered and she had to blink rapidly to make them stop. "Yeah."_

_Maria threaded her arm through Rae's and skipped along the corridor, pulling her along. "Whatever happens, Rae, I'll always be by your side." All the bad feelings that were beginning to brew in Rae's chest were pushed away at the sentence. It was then that she realised that Maria was probably the best friend she could ever have, and she sent god a little prayer of thanks for her._

_At night, the hours slipped by slowly and she was still wide awake, staring at the flower pattern on your bed curtains. Tomorrow. What was she going to do? What the heck did they do in that tiny, dark room anyway? Her eyes flicked to your bedside clock, which read 3:46 in the morning. Groaning, she turned away, futilely trying to get some sleep, but rest never came, just as she knew it wouldn't._

_Blinking in the harsh daylight, she dragged herself out of bed. It was now six in the morning and late enough not to stay in bed anymore. The other girls were still asleep, their muffled snores resonating through the room. Trudging over to the bathroom, Rae turned the light on and blinked at herself. Dark patches under her eyes had appeared overnight and she looked positively horrid._

_She dressed in her uniform back in the main dorm, being as quiet as possible in the silence. After that, she went back into the bathroom to smear some cover makeup on her face, finishing off with some very light mascara. She travelled downstairs to the hall and grabbed some breakfast, hardly casting a glance at the other early birds there. She picked at it, being too nervous to eat._

_Psyching herself up, she made her way slowly to the Council room, pausing for at least a minute before knocking. The same tall, willowy girl that had knocked for entry yesterday opened the door, greeting Rae. Rae took the time to glance at her badge, which was a shiny silver plate with the words 'silver council member' engraved on it._

"_Welcome, Rae Lightsphere." She stood back, holding the door for her. The room was exactly as it had been yesterday, dark and gloomy with a few candles and Lene's chair at the far end. She smiled at Rae and beckoned her forwards._

"_You're early, Rae. That's good. I like eagerness." She told her when she'd reached her. Rae blinked, not really wanting to call it eagerness, more like obvious fright. She gave her a pleasant smile, bowing before edging away to a wall where other Council members stood along in silence. They nodded at her in greeting, but didn't say anything. She followed their lead. Nodding back and standing straight with the wall behind her back._

_At exactly eight o'clock, the willowy girl took her place next to Lene's 'throne', as did several other silver members. They all raised their hands, as if for silence, causing all very faint conversations to stop. Lene stood._

"_Welcome, Council members. We are here today on our annual meeting to discuss several matters at hand. First of all, let us introduce the new members who have joined us this last week, may they step forward." The Council member next to Rae nudged her forward. A girl further along the line with a very pale and nervous face also stepped forward. Lene's hand swept towards her._

"_Amelia Handragon meets with us today."_

"_Welcome, Amelia Handragon." Every member chorused. Lene's hand then swept towards Rae._

"_Rae Lightsphere meets with us today."_

"_Welcome, Rae Lightsphere." Against her better judgement, a warm, bubbly feeling of pride swam through her, making her smile slightly. Both Rae and Amelia stepped backwards._

_Lene continued. "Next, we will discuss their first favour, to show their loyalty to the Council." Damn, Rae knew this was coming, but hadn't thought they would be so fast about it. She glanced over at Amelia, who looked like she would faint at any minute. "Willow, would you read out the current problems at hand, start with the minor ones." Rae repressed the urge to snort as the 'willowy' girl stepped forward, unrolling a long sheet of parchment._

"_Student Jane Minieve has been accused of stirring trouble against the Council, particularly against member Laura Goodwill."_

"_Who reported this?"_

"_Member Laura Goodwill herself did, Mademoiselle Lene."_

"_May she step forward." A member on the far wall with cropped and stylish hair stepped forward and bowed. "Explain your reasons."_

"_Mademoiselle Lene, I would not have brought this to discussion at first. She seemed to have ill feelings against me, but I handled it with dignity and without violence. I asked her why she was starting rumours about me and a boy from the Durmstrang Institute who had been visiting England for a few days. She seemed to like this boy and thought I was flirting with him when I saw her in the same club as we were visiting. We are merely friends, in fact. She returned my question by offending the Council, calling it a 'group of stuck-up cows who think they're all that.' This happened in front of a large group of normal students."_

_Lene's face turned into a frown. "But this is clear disrespect for the Council, and in public no less."_

"_It is indeed."_

_Lene turned to Amelia. "Amelia, this will be your first favour, bring student Jane Minieve to the Council next meeting time, which will be today next week."_

_With trembling legs, Amelia bowed. "It will be my pleasure Mademoiselle Lene."_

_Willow continued reading from the list. "A boy has started several arguments between members of the Council by seducing them all at the same time."_

_Lene blinked. "What!"_

_Willow swallowed heavily. "Members have been complaining about him. Some arguments have resulted in injury because they were fighting over him. Members Jen King and Opera James were hospitalised last week because of one such incident."_

_Lene let out a low growl. "Name him."_

"_Leo Kincova, Mademoiselle."_

"_Let it be known now." Lene called out, standing up and making at least half of the members flinch or shuffle nervously. "Council members should not be fighting against each other for such silly reasons! If I hear of any arguments over this boy again there will be punishments!" Murmurs of agreements sounded throughout the hall. Willow held her hand up for silence._

"_What of the boy?" Willow asked._

"_He needs to know not to mess with Venefica school girls again, but we will not punish him. To love women is a man's job is it not?" Chuckles now grew around the room and Willow had to hold her hand up yet again. "Now we do not want to anger him, we simply need to send him someone who can sustain his focus." Her eyes moved towards Rae and she felt something heavy grow in her stomach. "Rae, seduce him, date him, do whatever you want, but keep his focus on you."_

_Rae stuttered in disbelief, Lene raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong?_

"_N-not at all, Mademoiselle, it's just that I have not much experience when it comes to ."_

_Lene nodded, seeming to understand her statement. "Which is probably where we've been going wrong. Experienced girls are what he's been going for, perhaps a little bit of innocence will make him fall for you."_

_Rae swallowed slightly, desperately trying not to panic. "Of course, Mademoiselle, I understand."_

_Lene sent Rae one of the creepiest smiles she'd ever seen. "Because we have given you such a hard task for your first favour, if you succeed, I will award you minor or major member status, depending on your performance." Surprised voices erupted around the room; even the silver badges lost their cool and blinked in surprise. "Quiet!" Lene snapped, fury on her features. Silence met her._

"_That is all subjects today." Willow's voice pushed through the quiet._

_Lene nodded "Lastly, may members Opera and Jen be downgraded to blue badges for letting themselves be led on, and then beginning to argue between themselves until injury." Shocked stillness spread throughout each member. "Council discussion closed, you may mingle now." The whole room exploded into conversations. Some members went to kneel at Lene's feet, asking her many different things. The girl next to Rae gave her a grin._

"_You must have luck on your side"_

_Rae blinked. "How so?"_

"_Well, to be given such a chance when you're so new!"_

_Rae laughed, liking the girl next to her and remembering that she'd nudged her when she needed to step forward. She held out her hand. "I'm Rae Lightsphere, but you already know that, right?"_

_The girl winked at Rae before grabbing her hand "Your right. I'm Gwen by the way, Gwen Surferi."_

_Rae flashed her a smile as they shook hands, noticing that she also had a normal green badge. "Thank god there was someone I could get along with in here." She laughed._

_Gwen laughed with you. "Surprisingly, a lot of the people in here are OK. It's the upper rankers that you have to watch out for, especially the silvers."_

_Rae nodded, thankful for the information, and Gwen turned away as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked across the busy crowd, setting eyes on Maria, who was on her own. Rae made her way over, waving slightly. Maria's face was washed with relief. "It's Maria, right?"_

_Maria nodded a lot, and very fast, her face beginning to grow as red as a tomato. "Y-you're Rae, R-right? Oh dear, I'm n-not very good at this."_

_Rae couldn't help but chuckle. The girl's personality fit her petite height and figure. Someone tapped her on her shoulder. Rae turned, surprised to see Willow behind her. Willow flashed Rae an overly bright, not to mention an overly fake smile._

"_Hello, I'm Willow Simcura, a silver member."_

_Rae followed her lead, holding her hands neatly clasped in front of her, away from her wand. "Rae Lightsphere, as you know."_

"_I do hope you enjoy your stay here, as well as becoming a higher member, let's make a habit of staying in touch."_

"_I think that's a great idea." They both flashed each other a smile before Willow stalked off to the other end of the room, completely ignoring Maria's existence and grabbing hold of a green member, who had obviously been gossiping a bit too much. Rae turned to Maria, who had gone even paler, if that was possible._

"_Scary much?" Rae laughed. Maria managed a nervous giggle, which made her a little green. Rae felt genuine concern for the girl. She wouldn't last long in a place like this. Flicking her eyes over to the doors, she saw that several members were already beginning to leave. She took hold of Maria arm gently._

"_Let's get you some fresh air; it's a bit stuffy in here." Rae told her. Maria looked at her thankfully, managing a proper smile now. Just before they squeezed out the door, Gwen took hold of your shoulders._

"_Oi, Rae, I did a bit of digging for you. They say Leo Kincova hangs around the clubs Flashdance, Beat and Shush."_

_Rae took hold of Gwen's hand, clasping it with both of hers. "Thank you."_

_Gwen gave her a serious smile, before going back to the chatter. You took Maria onto the grounds and watched her breath in deeply._

"_I've never been so scared in my life." Maria spoke, breaking the comfortable silence._

_Rae paused. "Don't worry Maria; I'll do everything I can to get you through this. Let's leave this school, having survived this."_

_Maria looked at Rae, adoration in her eyes. "Yeah, I hope we do."_


	11. Chapter 11 Seeking Leo

Rae woke up to the feel of the Slytherin bed covers, her head throbbing. Confused and not quite sure where she was, she sat up, her vision blurring and sending the room in cartwheels. She was sure she had gone back to Venefica, but here she was waking up to the greens of her house and Pansy's snoring. She glanced at her clock, which read 6:30, before dragging herself out of bed and sliding into the bathroom. She changed her bandages and lifted up her shirt to reveal a spreading purple bruise that went from just above her pants to her mid-back. Gingerly, she brushed her fingers over it, hissing and wincing against the pain. She cast a healing spell that didn't make much of a difference and hoped Neville's bruise on his face wasn't as bad as hers, which it probably was. Damn that Malfoy.

Back in the main room, she got dressed carefully, taking some pain relievers and putting them in her bag. Muffled noises came from the beds around her, saying that the others were waking up. Before things could get uncomfortable with Pansy, Rae left for the hall, grabbing some toast which she ate for once. Hermione and Neville were there and she gave them a curt nod before sliding into a seat with them. Ron looked up from his newspaper.

"God, you too Rae! What on earth happened to the three of you?" He said, motioning to Rae, Hermione and Neville, who looked the worst by far.

Hermione huffed. "For the last time, Ron, we accidently wondered into the forbidden forest, panicked, and some very unfortunate occurrences happened."

Harry mumbled something into his cereal, but it was too quiet to hear. At least Ron bought it.

"I thought you were supposed to be clever, Hermione, but I supposed you had Neville with you, which explains the panic part" He said. Neville's face sunk dangerously low to his food.

"And Luna" Rae added.

"We'll then, there we go, you had no chance. She probably was the one who led you there in the first place, rambling on about one of her god-dam creatures..."

Rae frowned, now looking down at her own food, which didn't look as appetising as it did before.

"God Ron! Why do you have be so rude!" Hermione practically shouted at him and he scowled.

Harry then turned the conversations to more light hearted topics and everyone started to calm down.

By lunch, Rae's head was pounding, it was hard to walk because of the bruise and she constantly felt dizzy. She waved goodbye to her friends, telling them she was going to the school hospital. Madam Pomfrey told her to either sleep in one of the many cubicles and rest, or go back to the Slytherin common room to do so. Finding her strength low, she decided to stay where she was and slipped under the covers after she pulled the curtains around her.

She found it easy to sleep in the quietness of the hospital, wondering why she was so tired even though she'd slept so much last night.

_Rae dragged herself down the school corridors, finding it easy to skip now she was in the council, she didn't have to hide outside on the field from them anymore. In fact, she'd seen many of the council members doing the exact same thing as she was, wasting time instead of going to lessons. She sat down outside anyway, seeing as it was a nice day, and ate some nuts while flicking through magazines that she had brought with her._

_A familiar voice came from behind her. "Rae!"_

_She turned to see Gwen coming towards her, her baby blonde hair gleaming in the sun. "Gwen!" Rae said, genuinely happy to see her. A couple of girls followed her from behind as Gwen sat next to her on the grass, stealing one of her nuts. They chatted for a while before Gwen asked a surprising question._

"_Rae, have you gone to any of those nightclubs yet?"_

_Rae stopped stuffing her mouth with sunflower seeds, coughing a little. "Uh, no actually."_

_Gwen raised her eyebrows. "Why not? It would be a good idea to start soon, preferably before the next meeting, it been two days."_

_Rae's face flushed pink as she fiddled with her fingers. "Well, I've never been to a nightclub before, it's quite nerve wrecking, plus I don't know where any of them are..."_

_Gwen grinning, smacking Rae on the back roughly. "Well why didn't you say so? The girls and I were going down tonight; you've got to come with us. You know how to dance, right?"_

_It was Rae's turn to laugh now. "I'm not sheltered, Gwen, of course I know how to dance. Where shall I meet you?"_

"_At the gates, ten o'clock. Dress classy." Gwen replied, standing up and bushing some invisible grass off her clothes._

"_I'll see you there." Rae said, waving her a goodbye as she disappeared with her friends._

_Rae spent the rest of the day waiting for the time to come. She chatted with Maria after she came out of her lessons, giving Rae a disapproving look, but not saying anything about her skipping. Amelia was nowhere to be seen, and Rae hoped she was OK._

_After a quick dinner, she got ready. Slipping into a tight fitting dress, she looked herself over in the mirror. It was too short for her taste, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. She curled her hair and tied it up into a messy ponytail, then applying some makeup before grabbing a small clutch bag. She reached the gate on time, Gwen beckoning her over. She easily fell into step with the others, who seemed like experienced clubbers, and found it easy to talk to them, too, even though they were all from the council._

_The first club they visited was called 'Beat.' It had a loud but slow bass and art deco on the walls. There wasn't much dancing going on, which was strange. Gwen told Rae that it wasn't peak time for this one, so most people just stood around and chatted. Apparently, the girls found it boring and the group quickly switched to the next one after Gwen checked round for Leo._

"_Did you know that he's the king of the clubs around here? Sometimes does some DJ-ing, too, on rare occasions. He's quite the popular guy. In fact, he would be perfect if wasn't for his womanising streak. The only girl that has a chance with him is the club queen, and there isn't one." Gwen told her._

"_Won't there be other girls competing for him then?"_

"_Well, Lene gave the order, which rules out every girl in Venefica, not that normal students would have the chance to come here. As for the rest, they're kind of wary of Venefica students, especially the muggle ones."_

_Rae nodded in understanding as they entered the next club 'Flashdance.' This one was different from the last. There was more of a tune in the music and it had a completely different atmosphere. There were large groups of people on the dance floor, full of swaying women. The group went straight to the bar and Rae asked for a random drink she liked the sound of. The other girls downed their quickly before asking for another one, to which the bartender frowned deeply at. Rae sipped hers, wincing at the sharp taste before getting used to it. Even Gwen downed her second drink after slowly drinking the first._

_As anyone would expect, the girls got quite tipsy quickly, and after drunkenly looking for Leo, they moved to the next club, 'Shush.' Immediately, Rae could tell that this was both the most expensive and the most popular club. It was twice the size of the others, as well as having twice the amount of people. The music was a bone thumping fast beat and the whole place was alive with the jumping of bodies. Alcohol was being thrown in the air and there was an intoxicating smell of sweat._

_Yet again, they went straight to the bar and Rae grabbed another drink as the others downed their third or fourths, she couldn't quite remember. A tipsy looking Gwen tapped her on the shoulder._

"_Rae!" She tried to whisper, but failed miserably. There was a pause where she quietened her voice. "He's in here! Leo!"_

_Rae swerved to the direction Gwen was pointing in to see a boy surrounded by a large group of girls. He had a wide mischievous smile that looked too sexy for his own good and a head full of coal black hair that flopped over his eyes lazily. Ah, his eyes, that was what held Rae's attention the most. They looked like colbat blue eyes, but Rae was sure that if she got closer they would be more distinct, with maybe a little green in them. He was tall, her most important factor in a man, and from the skin that was not covered by clothes, she guessed he had muscles, too. He must be older than her, maybe a year or more. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought it was. Rae blinked, of course it was, how the heck was _she_ going to get _his_ attention? There were so many girls around him, it was impossible._

_Rae bit her lip, feeling a headache coming on. She drank some of her alcohol, but didn't gulp it down. "What do I do, Gwen? How am I going to do it?"_

_She shrugged, finishing her drink, too drunk to care. "I don't know." She slurred, taking hold of Rae's hand. "Come dance with me instead."_

_Rae let herself be dragged onto the dance floor by her friend, letting the music flow through her body. It only took her a second to get into it, and soon she was dancing like everyone else. This time, she did down her drink, pushing the glass on some random surface. She danced with Gwen for what she was sure was over an hour, she could feel the sweat dripping down her thighs. Gwen stumbled and Rae struggled to catch her, dragging her over to a quiet area in another room with seats. There, Rae dropped Gwen onto a sofa, sitting down next to her in exhaustion._

"_Well, that was fun." She said to Gwen, only to find out that she'd passed out. She sighed, drinking some water that she'd brought with her and hoping that it would dilute the alcohol. A sound from the door made her turn her head, only to see Leo Kincova come through, looking behind him in case anyone was following him. The few girls who were conscious in the room started chatting to each other, but no one seemed brave enough to move. His eyes skittered across the room, viewing everyone there. Her heat fluttered as they quickly grazed over her, but sank as they didn't even bother to pause, she should have guessed._

_He sunk into one of the single seats, sending all girls near him skipping away as if getting to close to him might be the death of them. Rae's disappointment turned into anger. Who was he to be so full of himself? Egotistical asshole. Just the kind she hated. This was stupid idea, all made up by stupid Lene. Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

_He was still spying round the room at the blushing faces when his eyes flew over her for the second time. Her feelings must have shown on her face, not that she felt the frown on her forehead, because he paused and looked back. She threw her head away, mouth curve in a disapproving thin line. Now it was his turn to frown, in fact, he got up and went over to her to see what her problem was._

"_Do I know you from somewhere?" He said, flashing his smile to her._

"_Nope" was her curt answer._

_He frowned at her again, not understanding her dislike for him."...Have I offended you? I apologise for anything I've done, if you would explain to me what..."_

_Rae cut him off, something she'd grown quite good at over the years. "You haven't done anything, nothing at all."_

_His frown turned deeper, almost angry, which annoyed Rae greatly. So now he wasn't getting the reception he wanted he was going to get bad tempered with her?_

"_Then why..." he began to ask, but Rae cut him off again._

"_I just don't like you, or did you never think that possible?" She said, wincing at how rude she sounded, heck, he deserved it and everything, but this wasn't like her. Damn that alcohol. Hesitation passed on her features and she was too tipsy to hide it or care to. His frowned turned into confusion._

"_Have you had too much to drink?"_

"_Even if I had it wouldn't make any difference, I'd still think the same thing. I would just be able to keep a lid on it more." He laughed then, a deep sound that vibrated through her skull. She winced again. "Why are you laughing?"_

_He shook his head "You! I'm laughing at you! Are you always this open?"_

_Rae paused to think while he laughed. Open? She couldn't be open, not anymore. Not now she was in the council. Open was the last thing she wanted to be. "Not for much longer" she said in a gruff voice "and I wouldn't call it open, I would call it blunt."_

_For some bizarre reason she couldn't understand, this sent him into another fit of laughs. He sucked in some air and calmed himself. "You're strange." He said, but Rae though he was the strange one, laughing like an idiot at everything she said. She growled, something that anyone else would think to be hostile, which it was supposed to be, but Leo didn't seem to want to catch on. Instead, he looked around the room once again; he seemed to like doing that._

_He was surprised to find that the girls were not glaring like normal when he socialised with one particular girl, but they were looking at her warily. He cocked his head to the side as if he was listening to something, which he was; he was listening to the conversations around the room. Rae gave him a look to say she thought he was a freak._

"_...Don't want to get near..."_

"_...One of those bitches from Venefica, they're always..."_

"_...Apparently Lene ordered it herself, she must have a bit of trust and expectations for her..."_

"_...If what they say is true, she'll have no competition for him..."_

_Competition? For who? For him?_

"_What's your name?" He suddenly asked._

"_Rae Lightsphere." She answered._

"_And you're from Venefica?" He shot at her._

"_Sadly. Do you listen into other people's conversations a lot?" She shot back._

"_It's easy and gives me the upper hand in a lot of situations, what's not to like? Are you in the council?"_

"_It's a weird habit though, don't you think? And yes, I am. Why are you asking anyway?" She said, frowning for the hundredth time tonight._

"_So is watching people so closely that you can even tell what I'm doing, that's quite a feat. Are you on a mission or something?"_

"_You skipped one of my questions, that's not playing fair. Why do you know so much about Venefica?"_

"_Well, you just skipped one of my questions, that makes us even. I've talked to a lot of girls at Venefica, so I know a lot about the council, not that it interests me."_

"_Fair enough. That's actually why I'm here, going back to your earlier question."_

"_Huh? You're here to play a question game with me?"_

"_No! I'm here because you pissed off a lot of Venefica girls. I'm in the council, you see, and they want someone to hold your attention."_

"_So they sent _you_? And I don't think you were supposed to tell me that."_

"_What do you mean they sent _me_? And who gives a damn? I couldn't care less whether I'm supposed to tell you or not, it just makes everything a heck of a lot easier." Rae asked, slightly offended._

"_Well, you're not the most 'seductive' of females, are you?" He said, using his finger for air quotes._

"_I don't want to be 'seductive'" Rae said, using her own fingers for air quotes "for you. You repulse me, it's too hard."_

"_Great, you're back to insulting me now?" He said, doing a bad impression of puppy dog eyes._

"_Aw, I thought you liked banter?" She said, laughing for the first time in the conversation. It was a rich sound._

_Gwen murmured something, rubbing her eyes and blinking. She looked around the room with a dumb look on her face, as if she was lost, before setting eyes on Rae._

"_Rae!" She shouted, slinging her arms rounder her shoulders. "My favourite." She slurred._

_Embarrassed, Rae thought it was time that she took Gwen home. "I think someone needs to go home" she said to Gwen, nodding goodbye to Leo. She kept one of Gwen's arms around her shoulders and pulled her up so they could leave. Leo suddenly stood up._

"_Do you need any help?"_

"_No, we'll be fine, I know the way."_

_Rae started to walk away again when Leo took hold of her free arm. "When will I see you again?"_

_Shocked, Rae stood there in silence. A smile grew on her lips. "I'm sure you'll see me around, I won't disappear."_

_They left the room, and then the nightclub, not bothering to check if Leo was watching them. Gwen threw up all over the sidewalk, narrowly missing Rae's favourite shoes, but apart from that Rae managed to get her back in her bed safe and sound._


	12. Chapter 12 Realisation

Hello! Welcome to the twelfth chapter.

Firstly, I'd like to clear up any misunderstandings about the changes of time in this fanfiction. All text in _italics _is in the past. All normal text is in the present. I apologise that some of the recent past text hasn't been in italics, but it was in italics in the doc manager, just not on the actual story pages (don't ask me why because I have no idea.) I was just too lazy to check until **Nizuna Fujieda** pointed it out for me, thanks for that.

Secondly, I just like to say that I hope Draco isn't too OOC in this chapter. It is hard to make him likeable, normal and macho enough all at the same time. This chapter is not a filler! Yes, I know it is short compared to the latest ones, but it is a build up to Draco's and Rae's relationship, as well as the **disastrous and horrible occurrences** that will happen in the **next chapter**. I will try my hardest to make it as realistic and horrendous as it would be in real life. So I say here now and I will say at the start of the next chapter, it will contain mild, err, gore/dark/whatever. I don't know what to call it, but I hope you readers will find it good.

Lastly, I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, but it was only because I lost my prime writing time because my laptop charger went bust. The next chapter will be faster and longer. Thank you.

The whiteness of the school hospital did nothing to soothe Rae's headache when she woke. It seemed that the more she slept, the worse she felt, which was completely unfair in her opinion.

Madam Pomfrey shuffled in. "Are you feeling any better dear?" She asked. Rae grumbled, feeling the headache grow larger. Madam Pomfrey frowned, putting her hand on Rae's forehead and sucking in her breath. "That's a nasty temperature you have there, I think you better stay."

Rae put her hand up to shield her eyes. "What time is it?" Her voice sounded hoarse.

Madam Pomfrey stopped smoothing down the bed sheets to glance at the clock. "It's just before dinner; I'll get something to eat if you think you can stomach it."

Rae nodded, but stopped short when it sent her sight spiralling in all directions. She covered her eyes with her arm. "That would be great, thank you Madam Pomfrey."

She made sure a sick bowl was near Rae's bed before wandering off to get some food. Rae struggled not to fall asleep again, not wanting to have any more weird dreams about the past. They could only get worse anyway. A creak sounded from the door and Draco Malfoy's voice erupted into the room.

"Crabbe! Crabbe! Where are you?" He shouted. Rae would have smacked herself for her bad luck, if she had the strength. This was the last thing she wanted. The grumbles of other patients could be heard around the room and Draco went round, ripping open the curtains of each segment to look for his friend. Rae managed to pull herself up into a sitting position and smooth her covers over her stomach before he came barging in. He paused looking at her and then around the room, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Your friend is probably not in the hospital, Malfoy. He's probably hiding from you, too." She told him.

"Very funny." He scowled. "What are you doing in here anyway?"

Rae frowned and glared at him at the same time, her face screwing up in an ugly fashion. "If I'm in the school hospital that means I'm not well. You're such a dimwit! And do you think it's acceptable to run around in such a place, shouting at the top of your lungs!"

He frowned back at her. "Why on earth are you getting so angry? If I thought this, err, alliance would let you shout at me, I would have never agreed in the first place."

Rae groaned, deciding that she wasn't going to participate in this conversation properly anymore. She pushed herself back down under the covers. "That's because you're bigheaded. What do want anyway?" She mumbled, closing her eyes and pretending that he wasn't there anymore. There was a gap void of noise and she thought that he had gone away. She opened her eyes but immediately regretted it. Malfoy had gone round her bed and stuffed his face into her personal space. She was now staring directly into a pair of grey eyes.

Slightly disturbed, Rae drew back sharply. "No, seriously, what do you want?" She asked, annoyed that her heart had skipped a beat.

"I just wanted to see if the girl who set me on fire really is in a weak state."

"Huh, so what did you find out?"

"You look positively horrible." He said, smirking.

Rae growled at him. "Shut up and go annoy someone else. Someone less ill."

"Ah, but you're the only one in this school who has the guts to give me backchat. Potter used to be fun to annoy, but he gets angry a lot lately and I'd rather not have to have another fight. I suppose you'll have to entertain me for today."

In the midst of his talking, Rae had grabbed the emergency red button positioned on her bedside table and had been pushing it repeatedly, only half acknowledging the fact that no one was going to come because Madam Pomfrey was out.

"What are you doing?" He asked while you shouted over the top of him.

"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey! Someone! There is a loud and obnoxious boy in my room and I want him to go away." She called, as loud as she could with her weak voice, which spluttered and died at the end of her sentence. Draco took this as a chance to irritate her further.

"I mean, I don't prefer annoying Potter to you or anything." He said, genuinely concerned that she might be hurt by what he just said. She had a hard time trying to figure out whether he was being serious or just taking the piss out of her. She grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down, hoping it would restore some of her voice.

"And I can't annoy a girl too much, can I? Not that you count as a girl..." Draco continued, oblivious to everything apart from himself.

"Get lost, Draco." Rae croaked, wondering why she had to live with such frustrating people.

"Huh? What was that?"

"I said get lost!" Rae cried as loud as she could, throwing the empty glass at him. He dodged and it slid over the floor and smashed at the other end of the room. Draco scowled.

"Okay, okay, I'll go, calm down. You are ill after all, shouting isn't going to help."

He was doing this on purpose, she knew it. The bad thing was that he was good at it, very good at it. He left the hospital much more quietly than he came in and Rae's tiredness overwhelmed her again. Madam Pomfrey arrived with dinner for the students and Rae ate as much as she could but ended up throwing most of it up in the bucket next to her. After that, she began to feel better, assuming that the flu or bug, whatever it was, had gone away. She couldn't, however, get rid of her sleepiness. In fact, it increased every second and she found herself slipping into yet another deep sleep.

_Her hangover was disastrous, so much so that she decided to skip another day of school. She had planned to go to classes as usual, unlike the other girls in the council, but had been smothered by peer pressure, something she was still hesitant to admit. She found herself making up for it at night, studying until the small hours of the morning. She didn't know if it was the stress or lack of sleep, but she had found herself eating more than twice the amount she usually did. Even more than Maria, and she likes to eat. At least Gwen seemed to be in a similar state to she was. The again Gwen always ate like a pig and she drank even more than Rae did. Much, much more._

_To make matters worse, Lene had moved this week's meeting forward to tomorrow and Rae could already feel the veins in her temples pulsing. She had to be thankful that she made some progress with Leo early, so she didn't have to go in empty handed. Amelia had said something about how it was because of her first favour that the meeting had been moved forward, but she had been mumbling so much that Rae couldn't really understand her._

_Actually, Amelia was worrying Rae a great deal. It didn't help that they hardly saw each other, being in completely different classes, not that they attended much. Rae had no idea where she hung out and who she was friends with. If Amelia was strong, like Gwen or Maria, she wouldn't have to fuss so much._

_A commotion down the corridor brought her out of her thoughts. A girl with black, spiky, tied up hair ran past her, nearly knocking her over. She tripped over her own feet after reeling, realising that she'd knocked into a council member, and was sent sprawling over the floor. A group of very solemn looking bronze council members, led by a shaking Amelia, came marching down the corridor at a fast pace. The fallen girl tried to scramble up, but a bronze member grabbed her by her collar and pulled her backwards._

"_Jane Minieve, for rebelling against the council you will be taken and locked in the council prison until your judgement time, nine o'clock tomorrow." One member said in a monotonous voice._

_The screeches of the girl could be heard throughout the school as they dragged her by her arms and hair to wherever the 'prison' was. Amelia didn't look Rae in the eyes; she didn't even look her in the face. Rae had the feeling that she wouldn't be able to for a while, and for the first time, she realised what she'd gotten herself into, and she felt truly and utterly afraid._


	13. Chapter 13 Council Hearing

WARNING: May contain imagery that might unsettle readers.

I wanted to make this more graphic, but really didn't have the stomach or guts to do so, so I left it like this.

Tell me your opinions?

_Rae woke up late the next day, which was unusual for an early bird like her. She still had a lot of time until the meeting, which was at nine o'clock, so she didn't worry about it. While slowly getting dressed, she tried to shake off the ominous feeling that today wasn't going to be a good day. Perhaps it was because of what Amelia had said and done? It had probably unsettled her. The sleep did her some good, though, and she felt much more refreshed than she had been recently._

_She had a small breakfast, just a yogurt and some fruit, before heading to the council room. The rest of the school seemed to have the same feeling as her, and everything was extra quiet and bleak. The sky seemed greyer, the grass less green and any colours less bright. _

_Rae didn't knock on the door this time; she just pushed on the frame and took her place around the edge of the room. Gwen, who looked like she hadn't slept for three days came and stood next to Rae._

"_Gwen? You don't look so good..." Rae said quietly, raising an eyebrow._

_Gwen groaned. "Well, it is 8:45 in the morning. I don't have the patience to look good this early; I'm too busy partying anyway. So who cares? I'll catch up on sleep next lesson." She gave a big yawn, and a couple of surrounding members frowned at her._

_Rae rolled her eyes. "You can still party and look good the next day, you know? Just don't drink so much."_

_Gwen snorted. "What would be the fun in that?"_

"_Are you slurring? God Gwen, are you still drunk?"_

"_Shut up!" She replied, coughing a little "I'm just a tiny, weenie little bit tipsy, that's all. It makes it easier." She emphasized her point by showing how small her 'tipsiness' was with her fingers._

"_Oh my god, Gwen, we're at a council meeting! Don't come in drunk! What if the wrong person found out? What do you mean 'it makes it easier' anyway?"_

_Gwen didn't seem to be listening and instead was drooling all over the wall behind them. Rae rolled her eyes again and scanned the room for a shivering Amelia, who was nowhere to be seen. Lene suddenly clapped her hands, all the silver members gathering behind her in a line like last time._

"_Welcome, council members." She called, her voice echoing around the room. Gwen struggled to bring herself out of her stupor and Rae straightened herself up as high as she could. "As some of you might know, this week's meeting had been brought forward to today because of the newcomers' first favours, one in particular." Her head turned towards Rae. "I hear you have made progress with Leo Kincova, Rae Lightsphere."_

"_E-eh?" Rae stuttered. Progress? She'd made progress?_

"_Rumour has it that you were seen chatting with him a couple of days ago."_

"_Ah, yes, but I only chatted with him."_

"_Then you haven't heard that he's been losing interest with his normal girls since then?"_

_What? "No, I hadn't."_

_Lene gave her a light smile. "Well, now we have congratulated Rae, let the show go one."_

_The next half an hour was a blur, a bloody mess of yells of laughter amongst screams and a growing feeling of acid at the back of her throat. Small, shaking Amelia opened a door on the far side of the room, which was normally obscured by a hanging poster, and entered the room, her hand desperately dragging a girl by the arms with her. Several bronze members went over to help her and they dragged the girl in front of Lene._

"_Ah." Lene started in a disturbingly airy voice. "So you're Jane Minieve?"_

_The girl had stopped struggling by now, and was now on her knees in front of Lene and her throne. Slowly, and with gritted teeth that were visible for nearly the entire room, especially the silvers that were up close, she bent her head and pressed herself on the ground in submission. "Mademoiselle Lene, I beg your forgiveness, I have been terribly foolish in my actions. I will never _ever_ make such a mistake again."_

_Tears were flooding down the girls face and dropping onto the floor beneath her. Gwen grabbed for Rae's hand and squeezed it really hard, for her own comfort more than Rae's._

_Lene casually flicked her wand between her fingers, eyes lidded heavily, almost making her look sleepy. "Your remorse is touching to say at the least, as is your...begging." Lene said, amusement on her pretty features. "I think I'll let you go this time."_

_Relief flooded through Jane's eyes, and the rush of held breath was heard by everyone in the room. Rae let out some of her own held breath, but Gwen still hung her head and was clutching Rae's hand as hard as ever, which made her feel confused. Then she realised, and dread flooded her body so quickly, she had to press herself against the wall to stop herself from falling. Jane scrambled up from her position on the floor and started to step towards the door when Lene sent out a loud and terrifying cackle. Jane must have realised what was going to happen at that moment, because she started to sprint towards the door, wailing slightly. Several bronze members stepped in front of the door, blocking her way._

"_Why are you so hasty to leave us, Jane? Won't you play with for a while? We've been void of some fun for ages; even though some may say that we discipline our _loyal followers_ too much." The silvers snickered and snorted behind her. Rae felt physically sick. Lene put her hand on Willow's arm, who was in her usual place, right next to Lene. "Willow, you can have the first turn, I know how much you enjoy this kind of thing."_

_Something grew on Willow's lips. A sadistic smile of a sort. Rae's hand lifted to cover her mouth, her other now returning Gwen's death grip._

"_Crucio!" Willow's voice cried out and Jane was sent hurtling to the floor, cries of agony escaping her lips easily. The room seemed smaller, or it seemed fuller, and Rae felt as if she was too close to what was going on in front of her eyes, too _involved_._

_Laughter also echoed around the room as Jane's eyes slipped backwards, revealing bloodshot whites. More students joined in, too many to count. Rae kept herself pressed against the wall, not able to drag her eyes away from the monstrosity. She saw Amelia out of the corner of her eye, who was bawling into the shoulder of another kind, normal member, her noise drowned out by everyone else's. The room was loud, and Rae new they could be heard from outside, but no one came in. No one came to stop them; no one said anything, not even the people in the room who were so obviously against it. Rae didn't do anything either; she just kept quiet, like the rest of them._

_Minutes passed, and the red splatterings of blood could be seen spreading past the legs of the group of members crowded around. Rae could no longer see it; she could not longer hear it. She was on the ground with her hands clamped on her ears, focusing on the warm hold of Gwen around her shoulders. She could feel the shakes of sobs wracking through her bones, but wasn't sure whether they were Gwen's or her own._

_Suddenly, Gwen stood up, pulling Rae with her as they edged towards the door, where a huge amount of members had already reached. It took a while for Rae to realise why it had suddenly gone so quiet. Jane's screams had stopped, and the last thing she heard as she left was one of the members speaking to another._

"_Oi, kick her will you? Just to see if she's dead." One said._

"_And put my foot on that? No thank you." Replied the other._


	14. Chapter 14 Aftermath

Hey readers!

I guess the last chapter was pretty disappointing after my crappy build up. It didn't really come to much did it, then again nothing in this story ever seems to do. (That whole thing with Draco and Hermione was really crappy and didn't make much sense, I apologise for that.)

This chapter's a bit short for my liking, but I had major writers block on how to start this thing, and did a load of switching and swapping before leaving it in this state. The last harry potter movie totally got me into finished my story plan for this thing though, and I'm gonna try my hardest to make it tie in with the real stuff, if that's possible (it's pretty unrealistic as it is.) The movie was a major hit though, and I recommend that everyone goes to see it. In my opinion, 3D doesn't do much, but it has some nice effects on some parts, and they did the whole thing beautifully.

Also, I'm going to put the **whole basic plot** on the **first chapter**, as well as some basic stuff about Rae (which you really don't need to know because you already have the gist on Rae's personality, but it has some stuff on what she looks like if you're bothered.) If anyone has any ideas on how to improve this, I'll take it all into account (as long as it coincides with what I've got planned already, which is getting good in my opinion.)

For those who are just as lazy as me, here **is the plot description** (just so you don't have to go all the way back to the first chapter.)

"Rae Lightsphere leaves her life at the treacherous school, Venefica School for Witches, to make a new start at Hogwarts. She thought everything would be alright after she makes friends with the famous Gryffindor trio, who are both brave and good, but finds that things are creeping up on her again. Plagued by dreams, Rae begins to notice her life going in the exact same direction as it had been before, but she refuses to let history happen all over again. To make it worse, she tumbles into a newfound love-hate relationship with the Slytherin prince, Draco Malfoy, even when she hasn't gotten over her past love for womanising Leo Kincova. Her path can lead two ways. Will she find herself battling against her past with her friends by her side, or will she once again flee from it, never being able to escape the consequences of her actions that made her lose the one person she loved the most."

There you go. Now read on!

Rae's eyes flashed open, her sight blurred by tears. She didn't know where she was again, this swapping back and forth wasn't doing her any good, but that wasn't on her mind at the moment, fear was. She lets a long and jagged scream, pushing the bedcovers away as if they were the blood on the floor. Madam Pomfrey came rushing in and tried to calm her.

"Dear! Dear, calm down, it was only a dream!"

"No!" Rae heard herself wail. "It wasn't! It wasn't! It was real! Oh my god, forgive me, I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry. Jane, I'm sorry!" She cried out in vain, Jane wasn't there; she could never be there anymore. Digging her nails into her scalp, Rae continued sobbing and moaning until she could feel Madam Pomfrey's soft arms around her, but they were too like Gwen's for comfort.

Other patients had climbed out of bed to see what the fuss was and worriedly peeped round the curtain, which were nearly wide open. Draco was in the corner, not that Rae gave any attention to him. He ran out the room and came back a couple of minutes later with Hermione, who rushed to her side and desperately tried to wipe her tears away.

"H-Hermione, I'm a horrible person."

She frowned at Rae, not really sure what was happening, but gave her a full hug anyway. "What are you saying, silly? You still have a fever!"

She just shook her head. "No, you don't understand, everything after that, it was my entire fault. Not hers, mine! Things had already been set in motion, I couldn't stop it, and I couldn't stop myself! Please, tell me I'm not a terrible person, I tried to be good, I tried so hard..."

Hermione's face turned serious and she took her face in both of her hands. "Rae, you are not a terrible person! You were good, you did so well!"

Rae didn't know how long they just spent holding each other, but the next thing she remembered is waking up, so she must have fallen asleep.

_Thinking back, the time after that was the time Rae remembers most clearly. There were parts of her life that were fuzzy, parts that had completely disappeared, but that day was still crystal clear in her mind. She felt as if she could remember every step, every blink, and every breath. She'd not forgotten how she ran from the group of girls spilling from the door like water from a tap, how she'd let go of Gwen's hand reluctantly and the sound of Amelia crashing to the ground, still sobbing. One particularly vibrant memory was running past Maria, and seeing her face through the blurring image of passing walls, the look she gave her was still carved into her heart._

_If she held her hand in the air, she could sometimes feel the door handle underneath her fingers as she threw herself into the empty girls' dorm. She'd wailed like a banshee whilst stuffing her face into the pillow of her bed. She only grew silent when she'd stood up and looked at herself in the mirror, expecting to see a forlorn looking girl with mascara running down her face. Instead, she saw a girl who looked exactly like her, but not like her at all. A girl who held herself high, and had a spiking glare on her face stared back at her instead._

_Maybe she was going crazy, maybe the stress was getting to her; because she had no idea how there could be a different mirror image of herself, and a strong one at that._

"_Disgusting!" The mirror girl spat at Rae. "Look at yourself! You never used to be this weak."_

_Rae slumped to the floor, her back against the side of her bed; feeling too tired to deal with this new phenomenon which she was sure would plague her later anyway. She needed to calm herself, stop the acid rising from her throat which seemed to want to come out any second. She needed to talk with Maria, she needed to hold Amelia, and she needed to see if Gwen was alright. But not now, she wasn't ready to step out the room yet._

_What to do next? Should she just carry on like normal, that was probably what everyone else was going to do, but it didn't feel right. Was Jane dead? Most likely. That was an extraordinary amount of blood to lose; she'd be in the hospital for a long time at least. Yes, that that was what she needed to do next, protect her friends, that was top priority. She'd seen what the council was capable of; she had information to build a defence against now._

_She turned to the girl in the mirror, who was glaring down at her. "You're wrong, you know? I'm not weak; I just haven't grown stronger yet."_

_The girl gave her another queer smile. "Poor, lost puppy. It's futile; there is no 'defence' against them."_

"_Maybe not, but there are ways to reduce risk, there always is."_

_That was it, that was what she needed to do next. Plan protection, her next aim. Get in with Lene, earn safety. To do that, she needed to get in good with Leo, Lene would be happy if she did that. Yes, first step in plan protection, seducing Leo._


	15. Chapter 15 Charging Into Action

_With renewed energy, Rae sped into action the next day. She found a forlorn looking Gwen near the fountain, who looked surprised at Rae's sudden and powerful entrance._

_"Gwen, you need some cheering up!" she said to her as she sat down on the fountain ledge._

_Gwen gave her a weird look. "...And you're OK? Completely fine? I thought you would be more, well, shocked."_

_Rae paused as she tried to figure out how to put her next sentence into words. "I guess I could mope around for a while, but it wouldn't help my situation. To survive in the council, you have to be strong; I know you know that, Gwen."_

_"So laughing it off and going partying after such a thing means you're strong? Rae, seriously, what..."_

_"Am I laughing? Do you hear me laughing! Don't treat me like an idiot, Gwen; I just don't see the point in sitting around. This isn't a celebration, its progress." She cut her off in a serious tone. Gwen, shocked again, stayed quiet and Rae had a feeling that she'd accidently hurt her feelings, even if she was doing what she was doing for her friend's sake. "I'm sorry, Gwen, I didn't mean it to come out in such a way. Just please understand, what you're doing isn't going to make yourself feel better. We'll go out, I'll stop you from drinking too much and if we're lucky I'll meet up with gorgeous Leo again. You know, you really made yourself look like a drunken idiot in front of him last time, this time you can show your good side."_

_"Good side? What do you mean 'good side'? I have many good sides!" Gwen laughed, elbowing Rae in the ribs gently. "Fine, I'll meet you by the gates at ten again, just like last time."_

_Rae flashed a smile. "Great! And remember, dress classy!" She said, repeating what Gwen had said last time._

_They went straight to the last club, Shush, it being where Leo was last time. Sure enough, he was there and surrounded by girls again. Gwen sauntered off in some direction and Rae was sure she didn't know where she was going and was wondering off for the sake of it. Pushing Gwen to the back of her mind, she went to the bar to get a drink. The barman started a conversation with her._

_"You were with that group of girls a couple of days ago, weren't you? They started some trouble after you were gone, you know. Did they get home safely?"_

_Rae stared blankly at the barman, who was patiently for Rae's answer. "I don't know. I didn't see them after that day." Venefica was a large school with many pupils, it was impossible to have seen them the day after that or maybe Rae just wasn't looking enough. Yes, that was probably it. She avoided any council member as much as possible anyway, and they were council members._

_The barman gave her a weird look as if to say 'you should look after your friends better'. That annoyed her. She got Gwen home, right? She didn't have to be responsible for everyone, right? "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked. "They're not my friends anyway; I don't even know their names."_

_The barman looked shocked for a moment. "Calm down. I wasn't saying anything. But you shouldn't come in here and stir up trouble like that. It causes trouble for everyone."_

_Was this barman trying to pick a fight with her? He was talking as if was her who made trouble, not a load of random girls she went out with. Plus, he was telling her to calm down when she'd shown no sign of getting angry. He didn't look like a wizard, he looked completely muggle. Did that mean he didn't know about Venefica? Or was he just taking it out on her because the girls 'made some trouble'? That was what it came down to, wasn't it?_

_Rae got more annoyed. "No, you didn't, but you didn't have to either. It was written all over your face."_

_The barman frowned at her. "How old are you? I think you're too young to be in here, you or your friends."_

_What was wrong with this barman, he wasn't even making her drink! And they'd passed the subject of her friends, so why was he bringing it up again? And she was older than half the people in the club, he was picking on her!_

_Rae got right into his personal space and he staggered backwards. "Hey, I don't know if you have anything personal against me, but I was the only half sober person that night, so if you have a problem with the girls who came with me, talk to them."_

_She felt Gwen's hand on her arm and she thought she was going to get reprimanded by her, but when she turned, Gwen was glaring at the barman. "Just so you know, the council at Venefica will be hearing about this. You should expect a visit soon for your disrespect." Her voice sounded cold and completely un-Gwen like._

_It was funny. Every normal member in the council hated what they had to watch and listen to, but when they needed to, they could easily back themselves up with the name 'Venefica'. It was shallow and there was a big price to pay for such an influence, but most of them weren't in the council voluntarily, so of course they would grab at the benefits of such a thing._

_The barman looked confused, so he honestly didn't know what they were talking about, and had no idea what the council or Venefica was. He looked over to a security guard who had been surveying the scene as if he was expecting him to come over and throw them out. The security guard didn't move an inch, and instead looked at the bartender disdainfully. And all because of the shiny badge that they displayed on their chests. It gave them such power that it was frightening._

_The bartender shrunk down and showed the first sign of fear as Rae and Gwen went to the dance floor without a drink; they had bottled water in their bags anyway. Someone had brought several buckets of neon paint and Rae and Gwen ended up painting their faces with Indian marks and making handprints all over the walls. After that they dance for a couple of hours, Gwen seemed to be dancing her stress away, swinging her head in wild circles._

_They retired to the same room as last time when they'd had enough, slumping down on the couch heavily. Leo came in shortly, looking around the room until he saw Rae. She wondered if he had deliberately followed her in here. He sat down on the couch opposite and smiled serenely. Rae raised her eyebrow whilst flapping the front of her top to cool herself._

_"Why isn't it Queen Leo? You seemed to be in a good mood."_

_He laughed. "It's nice to see you too, Rae. You seemed to be having a bit of trouble with the bartender earlier, so I got you a drink." He pushed the glass across the table and Rae picked it up and sniffed it._

_Gwen piped up. "That bartender is an ass; he won't be working here for much longer."_

_Leo raised his eyebrows, too. "I don't believe we've been introduced." He said, his womanising switch being pressed._

_Gwen laughed. "Yes, I think I was too drunk to be introduced last time." She looked over a Rae who had been peering at her drink._

_"Oh, sorry. Leo, this is Gwen, she's a friend from school and is also in the council." Rae said, looking away from her drink for the meantime. They both shook hands before Leo turned back to Rae._

_"Are you not going to drink that? It's only a Waterloo Sunset."_

_Rae sniffed it again. "You haven't spiked it have you? Women have to be careful these days, and it sounds like something you would do."_

_"Ouch, I'm hurt. And I haven't promise." He winked at her and Rae took a sip of the drink to cover up her blush._

_She licked her lips. "I taste Gin and something like raspberry."_

_"That would be the Raspberry Liqueur."_

_"It's nice."_

_"I thought you would like it. You remind me of a sunset."_

_Rae stopped, her face visibly going red now, even Gwen blushed. "Wow, you really are a womanizer if you can say something like that without blushing." She said, tucking some hair behind her ear nervously. There was an awkward pause before Leo managed to blow it away with one of those breath-taking smiles._

_He threw away the smile for a childish grin. "Only for you, my love."_

_Rae took several large 'sips' from the cocktail, immediately feeling it go to her head._

_Gwen took this moment to leave. "Well, I'm going to find my own guy to flirt with, you guy go have some, err, fun."_

_Rae looked at her with an expression that clearly said 'please don't leave me here with him alone', which she promptly ignored. Leo took this chance to jump up and slid next to Rae on the sofa, casually swinging his arm behind her back._

_"Don't get to touchy feely there, Leo, or you'll find my foot somewhere you don't want it to be." Rae said, eyeing him suspiciously. He only chuckled in response._

_"How about we go back for a dance?" He wiggled his eyebrows comically and Rae let out a little laugh._

_"I suppose it couldn't do any harm." She grabbed his hand; his face sliding into something that resembled surprise, and she led him out the room and onto the dance floor. He grinned as he grabbed her hips with both hands and pressed his front against her back. Rae was feeling slightly invaded, but had expected it anyway. She leant back slightly, moving her hips into his hands and reached behind her to clasp her hands behind his neck, deliberately pushing out her chest. He lowered his head until she could feel his breath in her ear, which sent shivers down her spine, she'd never been so intimate with a man before._

_They danced together for quite a while, the only pair who were slow dancing in the whole club. Rae felt light-headed, as if it was only half of reality. Leo suddenly grabbed her hand, pulling her through the crowd and out the club where they found themselves sitting on the swings in some random park._

_"Rae?"_

_She looked sideways at Leo, slightly pushing herself backwards and forwards. "Hmm?"_

_"What are you doing here?"_

_She stopped, forehead creasing. "I don't get what you mean."_

_"I mean, here with me. You could have any guy you wanted, why bother hooking up with a womaniser?"_

_"So you know what they say about you?" She paused. "I don't think you're as bad as they make you out to be. I'm not one to 'hook up' with womanisers, and to be honest, I shouldn't be doing this at all. I'm not doing it because I like you; I'm doing it because it's necessary for me to survive."_

_Leo looked shocked for a moment before snorting, trying to get rid of his discomfort. "Necessary to survive? You sound as if your life is in danger. If you don't like me, you don't have to flirt with me, it just wasting my time."_

_She flinched at his words before regaining her ambivalence. "You really don't know anything do you? My friend once told me 'make a deal with the council, make a deal with the devil, because that's what they are, demons. Don't make a deal, however, and you're in no man's land, in the middle of a war.' You see, once you're in the council, if they tell you to play in the road, you do it. If they ask you to jump you ask 'how high'. Everything turns into a 'witch eat witch' world. My life is in danger. My friend's lives are in danger. Everybody in the damn school has their life in danger, just because they wake up in the morning to the ceiling of Venefica."_

_"I'm a wizard; I know the wizarding world isn't like that."_

_"Sure, the wizarding world isn't like that, but the Venefica world is like that."_

_Leo seemed to have been backed into a corner, and took to silence as they sat there. "You're right, I don't understand."_

_Rae gave a weak smile. "It's OK, you're not supposed to. And I do like you, you know. You have a different sort of bluntness compared to me. A nice one, I like it."_

_"Alright, then go out with me."_

_"Huh?" Rae said dumbly, wondering if she'd heard him right._

_Leo huffed. "I said do you want to be my girlfriend."_

_Rae blinked; she hadn't known that it would come so fast. "I'll use you. I'm using you now."_

_He gave her a queer smile. "I'm using you too."_

_She wasn't sure exactly how he was using her, and she was sure he was just saying it for the sake of it. Why he would ever want to go out with someone who was just using him, she didn't know. What she did know, however, that somewhere he'd wriggled his way into a corner of her heart. It ridiculous, he was ridiculous, but she was far more ridiculous than anyone. She felt like a total clown and it wasn't nice._


End file.
